in defense of GM food

in defense of GM food

A comment on this post jokingly suggested that "genetically modified" is foul language (presumably not to be uttered in polite company). My cousin Carl also sent me an email earlier this year warning about GM food. So, I feel that I must speak up about a concept that has really gotten a bad rap.

If one uses canola oil in their cooking, then they're using genetically modified food. Canola is genetically modified rapeseed, developed in a Canadian lab back in the 1970's.

Such things as animal husbandry are technically a genetic modification, albeit on a timescale longer than a human lifetime. Animals are selected and crossbred to give desired characteristics.

As an example, all of the various breeds of cattle are the same species, but they have been bred so that Holsteins (for instance) give a lot of milk but not the best quality meat, and Herefords (for instance) don't produce much milk but have lots of tender meat. So if animal husbandry is genetic modification, then by drinking milk or eating a hamburger you're eating GM food.

Similary, there are many plants that we eat today that have been selected and cross-bred in a manner similar to animal husbandry. For instance, natural corn produces very few kernels and isn't really palatable, but hundreds of years of human intervention have produced large cobs with lots of succulent kernels. Tomatos, apples, citrus fruits, and many other types of fruits and vegetables have been modified in this manner.

And let's not forget Norman Borlaug, who produced a genetically modified strain of wheat called Dwarf Wheat; the introduction of this plant saved probably a billion people from starvation.

Chances are that for most of any person's life, most of the foods that they eat have been genetically modified in some fashion or another. Let's all take a deep breath and accept the genetic manipulation of food, either the slow process used in the past or the much quicker process today, and give thanks for the geniuses who developed the food we all eat.

Technorati Tags: GM Foods

Actually, it's a feature

Actually, it's a feature

Beware the environmental effects of genetically-modified foods:



(via Slashdot)

Technorati Tags: Humor

can anyone translate this into english?

can anyone translate this into english?

Now, I'm a techno-geek - I can follow conversations with electrical engineers and astrophysicists and computer nerds - but I'll be damned if I can follow a word this guy says:


Technorati Tags: Video, Humor, Technology, Technobabble, Buzzwords

dude, where's my flying car?

dude, where's my flying car?

Ah, finally I have found it, my own personal flying car: the Gen H-4 one-man ultralight helicopter. This sucker costs about 30 grand and requires 40 to 60 hours to assemble. The kits are available from Ace Craft USA. Two counter-rotating rotors on top mean that there is no need for a tail rotor. It is run by four 10hp (7.46kW) engines, each of which weighs only 6.5 pounds (3kg).The Gen H-4 is able to fly even if you lose one of the four engines, and can safely land even with two engines out of commission. (hat tip to Silver @ Claire Wolfe's blog.)

Now, some people might not like the counter-rotating rotors and would prefer to have the tail rotor on their ultralight helicopter. For those people, there is this beauty:The great thing about these two helicopters is that they are ultralights; that means that their top speed is about 55 mph (89km/h) and that they only hold a maximum 5 US gallons (just under 20 liters) of fuel. What's so great about that? Well, it means that one does not need a pilot's license to fly one of these babies... just get in and go.

Of course, it helps to get a little bit of instruction first, but as there is only one seat, your first flight is also your first solo flight. But man oh man these look like a lot of fun.

Technorati Tags: Ultralight, Helicopter

Astoundingly stupid "experts"

Astoundingly stupid "experts"

This is just jaw-droppingly absurd:

"The influence of the sun is utterly negligible," said Tom Wigley, a climate expert at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. "Compared with the human influence on climate, it is a very minor effect."

Consider that all of the energy that the earth receives is from the sun. And that the polar icecaps on Mars have been visibly shrinking over the last 40 years. And that there is a new storm on Jupiter the size of the Earth.

Now consider whether these "experts" have any common sense at all.

Technorati Tags: Global Warming, Environmentalism, Moonbats

Blogging from orbit

Blogging from orbit

Anousheh Ansari describes the launch on the Soyuz; I'm not sure, but this may be the first blog post ever done from orbit. It sounds like it was a total blast:

This wonderful feeling of freedom that puts a smile on everyone’s face. I slowly lifted off my seat and continued giggling. I just couldn’t believe it… to be honest with you, the whole thing is still like a dream to me… I was strapped in so tight that I couldn’t look outside. Finally when we were safe in the orbit, we were able to open our visors and to loosen our belts…

L.A. took his glove off and it started floating in the cabin. I could not stop giggling the whole time… I was finally able to take a look outside and saw the Earth for the first time… Tears started rolling down my face. I could not catch my breath… Even thinking about it now still brings tears to my eyes. Here it was this beautiful planet turning graciously about itself, under the warm rays of the Sun… so peaceful…so full of life… no signs of war, no signs of borders, no signs of trouble, just pure beauty…

What I would give to trade places with her...

Technorati Tags: Space, International Space Station, Ansari

I think I've found my new hero

I think I've found my new hero

That would be JimK over at Right Thoughts. Inspired by the video blogging of Pamela from Atlas Shrugs, he reasoned that tits = hits, and that if he showed an impressive rack while reading the news, then lots of people would visit his blog. Of course, his man-tits wouldn't do the trick, so somehow he convinced his wife to stand in front of the camera and play with her boobies while he read ... something... I can't quite recall what he was yammering on about now...

Ahem. Anyhow.

Now, I can't do the same thing. That would just be derivative. Plus, I'm a guy, and I would just look silly in a bra. It got me thinking though: "what would be the equivalent on a man that would drive hits from the fairer sex to my blog?"

And then, an epiphany: what is it that women check out on a man? Of course! The Butt. Don't knock the picture quality - do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture of your own butt? Anyway, consider this my entry in the "best butt in the blogosphere" contest. I know, I know, there is no such contest. But there could be. It just won't be on my blog... maybe one of the female bloggers out there could run such a contest? Maybe Lone Pony? Consider this a challenge to you, Becky. ;)

Technorati Tags: Humor, Blog

robot obstacle course

robot obstacle course

When I first started building robots 15 years ago, the Big Thing was the group of robots being developed by MIT's "Insect Lab"; mostly these were robots inspired by ants or spiders, using their multiple legs to maintain balance while traversing over difficult terrain. With the advent of Honda's Asimo robots and the Robosapien, humanoid robots finally started becoming a popular design - so popular in fact that there are now yearly humanoid robot obstacle course competitions. Here's a video of the Robo-one Eagle Competition. If you haven't seen the advances in robotics (particularly in the control systems) in recent years, then prepare to be astounded.


(via Robots-Dreams)

Technorati Tags: Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Video

Avast, ye scurvy bilge rat

Avast, ye scurvy bilge rat

Ahoy. Once agin it be international Talk Like A Pirate Day. Arrr. Ye may be wonderin', "how be I talkin' like a pirate"? Well, ye old sea-dog, here be Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy ta set ya ta rights. Man the fo'c'sle, raise the jib, and press play on yonder video below.

Arrr.
Technorati Tags: Talk Like A Pirate Day

robot insurance

robot insurance

Because your peace of mind is worth it.

Technorati Tags: Robots, Video, Humor

time for Muslims to wake up

time for Muslims to wake up

So, this past week, the Pope gave a speech at his old university. And, he happened to quote some old emperor to make a point that conversion to a religion under threat of death is not a valid conversion at all.

And, predictably, when the Pope was quoted out of context, the Muslim world went bananas. Here is the "offending" passage:

In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: There is no compulsion in religion. It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat.

But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the “Book” and the “infidels,” he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words:

Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.

The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.

God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death....

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature.

Of course, the part that is circulated in the Muslim world is that quote about "show me just what Mohammed brought... etc". And the reaction to the Pope's relatively mild speech? (From Wikipedia:) The Egyptian foreign minister said, "This was a very unfortunate statement and it is a statement that shows that there is a lack of understanding of real Islam." The Guardian Council of Iran called his speech a part of "a series of Western conspiracy against Islam." An Iraqi government spokesman said "The Pope's remarks reflect his misunderstanding of the principles of Islam and its teachings that call for forgiveness, compassion and mercy". The Turkish Prime Minister said "I believe it is a must for (the Pope) to retract his erroneous, ugly and unfortunate remarks and apologise both to the Islamic world and Muslims. …I hope he rapidly amends the mistake he has made so as not to overshadow the dialogue between civilisations and religions." Pakistan's Parliament issued the statement "The derogatory remarks of the Pope about the philosophy of jihad and Prophet Muhammad have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the danger of spreading acrimony among the religions."

And on and on and on it goes, with the leaders of the Muslim world in high dudgeon, ready to take murderous offence at the mildest of rebukes. Again from Wikipedia:

Some Muslims in India burned an effigy of the pope, and many joined in protest marches. 2000 Palestinians in Gaza City protested the Pope's statement on 15 September; a Greek Orthodox and an Anglican Church in Nablus were fire-bombed. A group called the Lions of Monotheism claimed responsibility for the attacks and said they were carried out to protest the pope's speech. Palestinians bombed and engaged in shootings against five churches in the West Bank and Gaza. Security has been discreetly stepped up around and inside the Vatican City, because of concerns about the possibility of acts of violence.

The Iraqi militia Jaish al-Mujahedin (Holy Warriors' Army) announced its intention to "destroy their cross in the heart of Rome… and to hit the Vatican." A previously unknown Baghdad-based group, Kataab Ashbal Al Islam Al Salafi (Islamic Salafist Boy Scout Battalions) threatens to kill all Christians in Iraq if the Pope does not apologize to Mohammed in three days in front of the whole world. A Somali cleric of the Islamic Council of Somalia has called for the Pope's assassination, urging Muslims to "hunt down the Pope for his barbaric statements"

Let's get one thing straight right now: the Pope is not going to apologize to Mohammed. Mohammed is dead, and is beyond appreciating either insult or praise. Also, the Pope is the religious leader of a billion Catholics, and as such he simply cannot all of a sudden subordinate his religion to any other.

But where have we seen this sort of a reaction before? Newsweek makes up a story about a Koran being flushed down the toiled in Guantanamo, and Muslims go berserk, killing each other, never once stopping to think that it is impossible to flush a book down a toilet. A few relatively mild cartoons are published in a Danish newspaper (and on my blog, among many others), and Muslims go bananas, killing each other and then boycotting Danish goods. Theo van Gogh makes a movie about Mohammed, and Muslims go insane and murder him in the street. And it just goes on and on and on, with Muslims abandoning reason and logic every time they take offense at anything, whether the offense is real or not.

I've got a clue for those Muslims out there who riot, murder, burn effigies, and so on at every slightest provocation: if you commit acts of evil in the name of your deity, after a while people will put two and two together and determine that the deity that you are worshipping is the deity of evil. They will rightly assume that what you call "Allah" is what everyone else calls "Satan".

So, give your heads a shake and wake up. The satanists have taken over your mosques, the satanists have become your imams. There is a reason why the people of the Middle East are living in abject poverty and ignorance, and you don't need to go any further than your local mosque to see the reason for yourself. Wake up!

Technorati Tags: Religion, Pope Benedict, Islam

IAU outsmarting themselves

IAU outsmarting themselves

Mark Whittington points out this article, which states that a new name has been chosen for 2003UB313:

Eris had been without a formal name while astronomers grappled over its status. Brown nicknamed it "Xena" after the protagonist of the TV show "Xena: Warrior Princess," pending an official designation. He admits the new name will take some getting used to.

"It's a little sad to see Xena go away," he said.

Eris' moon, nicknamed Gabrielle after Xena's traveling sidekick, also received a formal name: Dysnomia, the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness.

What the IAU apparently has overlooked (or has hoped that average people will overlook) is that the chosen names are not allowed under the IAU's own guidelines:

"Names proposed for minor planets will not be accepted if, in the opinion of the Minor Planet Names Committee, they are too nearly similar to those of other minor or major planets or natural satellites..."

There is very little difference between the pronounciation of Eris and that of (433) Eros.

Objects sufficiently outside Neptune's orbit that orbital stability is reasonably assured for a substantial fraction of the lifetime of the solar system are given mythological names associated with creation.

Eris was the goddess of chaos and strife, who sparked a quarrel among goddesses that led to the Trojan war. She has nothing do with creation. And in fact, the rule is going to have to be changed in the long run, as trans-Neptunian objects far outnumber all other objects in the solar system, so there simply aren't enough names to go around.

Discoverers have the privilege to propose names for ten years after numbering. Beyond that point, others may propose names

Mike Brown proposed the name Xena for 2003UB313, and the name Gabrielle for its satellite. Ten years have not elapsed since the naming, so neither the IAU (nor anybody else) can propose a new name until that time has elapsed. They can reject the name, but not propose a new one.

This could have been avoided if a small minority of IAU members hadn't had a hard-on for kicking Pluto out of the group of planets. If they had simply accepted the definition proposed before the last IAU meeting, then Pluto would have retained its planetary status, and Ceres, Charon, and 2003UB313 would all be planets as well; in that case, the naming of 2003UB313 would have been entirely up to the IAU. However in their zeal to kick Pluto out, they have also kept 2003UB313 from being designated as a planet and so have given up the right to propose a name for it for at least several more years.

(Not only that, but they have also inadvertently kicked most of the existing planets out of the category by definition - according to the new definition, there are only two planets in the entire universe: Mercury and Venus. All the rest fail to match the new criterion in some fashion; for instance, because of Cruithne, the Earth can not be considered to have cleared its orbit, so the Earth is no longer a planet. Likewise, because of the Trojan asteroids, Jupiter can not be said to have cleared its orbit and so Jupiter is not a planet under the new definition. As for the 100+ extrasolar planets? None of them are considered planets under the new definition either, as none of them orbit the Sun. Silly, silly astronomers.)

So, until 2013 the dwarf planet 2003UB313 cannot be named Eris, and must be either called by its numerical designation, or else called Xena.

Update: It has been suggested in the comments that Mike Brown himself was the one to make the suggestion that 2003UB313 be called Eris; if that is the case, then much of my argument above is moot. However, the IAU has still been acting like a bunch of dumbasses lately. And Xena is still a cool name.

Technorati Tags: Space, Xena, 2003UB313, Eris

No middle ground

No middle ground

Mark Whittington hits the nail squarely on the head:

In the five years of the War against Terror, or the War against Islamo Fascism, of just World War III, the worse we have suffered took place on the first day. Since then fifty million people have been given a chance for freedom and peace. Many terrorists who rose in jubilation as the twin towers fell and the Pentagon burned, celebrate no more. And it has all been at the cost of lives of what was often a days work in World War II.

This writer is therefore astonished to hear voices counseling retreat and surrender. Do the people giving this craven advice think making war is an easy, painless thing? Do they think that peace can be bought by quitting? Even more absurd, do they think that we can cut and run from one theater of the war and hope to pervail in another?

Whatever one thinks of the current war, whatever one thinks of the motivations of those prosecuting the war, whatever one thinks about whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, in the end all of these things don't matter. What does matter is that there is a war on now, and there are only two outcomes: either the United States wins or it loses. (And yes, I know there are allies like Britain, Canada, Australia, Poland, and others, but it is the USA that is the cornerstone.)

And if the USA loses - and this is the critical difference between this war and, say, the war in Vietnam - then everything that the home-grown critics of the war supposedly value (freedom of speech, freedom of religion, womens' right to vote, you name a freedom) ends. That's it, it's over, fit yourself with a burka.

There is only one option if the USA, for all its faults, is to survive. America must win.

Technorati Tags: September 11th, Terrorism, Warfare

The Inner Life of a Cell

The Inner Life of a Cell

Harvard University commissioned XVIVO to produce this very cool animation. You can find a higher-resolution version here.


From the XVIVO website:

The first in a planned series of animations for Harvard University's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, "The Inner Life of the Cell" takes undergrads beyond textbooks and vividly illustrates the mechanisms that allow a white blood cell to sense its surroundings and respond to an external stimulus. This animation explores the different cellular environments in which these communications take place.

Technorati Tags: Science, 3D, animation, Video

Scrubbed again: make it permanent

Scrubbed again: make it permanent

Via John Kelly at the Flame Trench:

NASA will work through tonight and tomorrow to try to determine whether it can launch shuttle Atlantis on Friday without repairing or replacing a suspect fuel cell system that prompted the postponement of Wednesday's launch.

I have witnessed two shuttle launches; I must admit that such events are truly impressive (but so is the takeoff of an intercontinental jumbo jet, which is readily comparable to a shuttle in terms of energy used, high-speed close-tolerance parts, etc).

HOWEVER. I must question the competence of NASA technicians and engineers, who after 25 years of operation of the shuttle still seem to just be winging it, making up excuses as they go. I must question the judgement of a succession of NASA administrators for ever approving the shuttle design in the first place, and for continuing to launch this flying kludge. And in light of these questions, I must question whether NASA should still exist at all.

Let's face it: the shuttle fleet is just another accident waiting to happen. The numbers are against them: it might not be this coming launch, it might not be the one after that, but anyone with the most rudimentary understanding of actuarial tables must know that there will be another shuttle accident ending in loss of crew and vehicle, before the scheduled retirement of the fleet in 2010.

There are only three shuttles left, and something like 16 or 18 more launches needed to complete the International Budget Buster Space Station. In the meantime, the shuttles are just getting older (Endeavor is the youngest ship in the fleet, and was delivered in 1991. Is anyone out there still driving a 1992 model year car? How's that running for ya? Discovery has been flying since 1984, and Atlantis since 1985 ... see many '85 or '86 cars on the road?) and replacement parts are just getting harder and harder to find. The loss of another shuttle will only exacerbate the schedule pressures and provide even more wear and tear on the remaining shuttles, thus driving the odds of yet another shuttle loss even higher.

NASA first started using the excuse that "the shuttles are experimental vehicles" after the Columbia disaster. It is unconscionable that NASA would commit the United States to using "experimental" vehicles in the 100 billion dollar space station program.

It is time to confess: NASA isn't about space. NASA is about U.S. government control of space access. That's why NASA has fought against every single space tourist launched by the Russians; it is why NASA fought a battle against the FAA for authority over private spacecraft and spaceport regulation; and it is why NASA is insisting on developing the CLV/"Stick" rocket (which as Jon Goff so ably points out, will be obsolete before it is complete). All of this in direct violation of the Federal law which requires NASA to "seek and encourage, to the fullest extent possible, the commercial use of outer space".

The time to end the shuttle program is now - scrub the Atlantis launch altogether, declare victory, and go on to the next project. If NASA cannot do that, then the time to end NASA itself is nigh.

Technorati Tags: Space, NASA, Space Shuttle

crikey

Crikey

Considering the danger that Steve Irwin put himself in with wild animals, it was bound to happen eventually. The Crocodile Hunter died yesterday while swimming:

Choking back tears, Mr Stainton [Irwin's manager] said Irwin had gone "over the top of a stingray and a stingray's barb went up and went into his chest and put a hole into his heart".

"He possibly died instantly when the barb hit him, and I don't think that he ... felt any pain.”

Technorati Tags: Crocodile Hunter

stopping Iran

stopping Iran

Claudia Rosset says that the way to stop Iran from going nuclear is to start by invoking sanctions against the UN:

How to stop Iran from going nuclear is a tough question, but we should at least start by ruling out what won’t work — which is trying to go through the UN. I have an Op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal on why this is nuts. All it will do is wring concessions from the U.S. in the effort to win over inveterate cheats such as China and Russia, and buy more time for Iran to make bombs. If it’s effective sanctions we want, maybe we should start by banning the State Department from dealing with the UN on Iran (or for that matter, the rest of the Middle East).

From her mentioned op-ed:

It is quite possible that -- after years of delay and dithering by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Union and the U.S. itself -- there is no initiative that will by now stop Iran short of direct military force. But whatever the solution, it is clearly the U.S. that will have to do the bulk of the cajoling, prodding and backroom bargaining to put together any coalition both able and willing, in whatever way necessary, to get the job done. That is a challenge urgent and daunting enough, without trying to drag along the entire baggage of the U.N.

Michael Coren would be even more direct in stopping Iran:

Put boldly and simply, we have to drop a nuclear bomb on Iran.

Not, of course, the unleashing of full-scale thermo-nuclear war on the Persian people, but a limited and tactical use of nuclear weapons to destroy Iran's military facilities and its potential nuclear arsenal. It is, sadly, the only response that this repugnant and acutely dangerous political entity will understand.

The tragedy is that innocent people will die. But not many. Iran's missiles and rockets of mass destruction are guarded and maintained by men with the highest of security clearance and thus supportive of the Tehran regime. They are dedicated to war and, thus, will die in war.

I don't know myself what the eventual solution will be with Iran. If we in the West are to avoid an all-out nuclear war, then Iran will have to be taken care of, and soon. And going through the UN to do it is pointless.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Warfare, United Nations, Iran