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Stories about science, the future, and weird true things.
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San Francisco, 10:01 PM
Wed Dec 30
27 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Daveinva Daveinva
    09:53 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    "Next decade may be the beginning of the end of the population explosion, which is good news for everyone - especially people who will be living on the planet 100 years from now."

    I respectfully disagree-- it's good news for *no one*.

    First off, the decline is led by Western nations and Japan (with China on our tail given the disastrous-yet-inevitable outcome of the 1 child policy). An aging population with fewer children is a recipe for societal decline-- financially (who's left to pay the taxes?), socially (youth = vibrancy and new ideas), culturally (older population = cultural stagnation; we're STILL talking about the 60s, for Pete's sake), and physically (who is left to care for the increasingly aged? Robots? Better hurry up, Japan).

    Second, the poorest nations in the world won't be over the population hump for some time to come-- if ever. Which means the imbalance between the rich and poor nations will get far worse before there's any prospect for it getting better.

    And cultural changes are inevitable-- America becoming more Latino (can be a great good, but it can also be a terrible thing-- I happen to like America the way it's been), Europe becoming more Islamic, Russia disappearing, and other changes we can't predict.

    Children are a good thing, folks. Not having them has consequences-- not many of them good (great, we "saved" the planet... but for whom? Will those future generations give a damn about what we cared about once we're gone?)
     Reply
    Daveinva was starred Daveinva was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    09:18 PM

    In reply to Could a Conjoined Twin Get Away with Murder?
    What if you are a doctor and your patients, conjoined twins, have a life-threatening illness but you could save one by separating them? The separation would kill the other twin....who is likely to die anyway. The other twin will die only if he/she remains attached to the other twin. The one who has a chance of living wants the surgery but the other does not. Would you kill one twin to save the other?

    [www.parkridgecenter.org]
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of alowishus wants to run a Saab Sonett III at LeMons alowishus wants to run a Saab Sonett III at LeMons
    08:54 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    Oooookay, fine. I'll stay out of the cryogenic chamber for another 10 years. But it better be good, damnit!
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment alowishus wants to run a Saab Sonett III at LeMons was starred alowishus wants to run a Saab Sonett III at LeMons was unstarred
    Image of aerospaceman aerospaceman
    08:46 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    hmm I wonder how they will address the homophobic undertones in The Forever War...
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment aerospaceman was starred aerospaceman was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    08:46 PM

    In reply to Could a Conjoined Twin Get Away with Murder?
    Yes, the law could punish them.

    Oh, you wanted a diatribe on why this is so? Very well, because common sense demands it. At what point would you stop fight to save a life if you were in the room while a murder was taking place were you faced with an opponent that could not injure you without also injuring themselves to the same degree? Any answer other than 'at no point' must fall under the legal definition of accessory in the very least.
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    09:07 PM

    @tetracycloide: If they were conjoined back to back, one twin could be pretending to perform the Heimlich Maneuver while they were really strangling their victim. The other twin may be completely ignorant of what's going on behind their back.
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of seanpat12 seanpat12
    08:45 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    man re landing on the moon by 2019?
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz approved this comment seanpat12 was starred seanpat12 was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    09:16 PM

    @seanpat12: Nobody is going to be landing on the Moon any time soon, sadly.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Malthian Malthian
    08:41 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. Whoa...whoa. Firefly was no disaster, lets get that straight here and now. It's cancellation was brought about due to lack of enthusiasm from the start from FOX which led to poor performance on the decades out of date Nielsen ratings system. I never saw a single advertisement for the show, it was just on all of a sudden one night. And as mysteriously as it came, it disappeared again.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Malthian was starred Malthian was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    09:15 PM

    @Malthian: By "disaster" I meant its cancellation. I'm a browncoat through and through.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex
    08:01 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    I must be in the minority when it comes to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I've tried to read that novel at least a half dozen times, but always end up getting bored with it. I keep going back because friends really recommend it. And, Annalee, your description makes it seem very interesting. So I either need to give it another go or find new friends.
     Reply
    EdificeComplex was starred EdificeComplex was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    08:19 PM

    @EdificeComplex: It's definitely not for everyone. I happen to fetishize footnotes, so it's particularly awesome for me.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    07:58 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    Yay! More space opera! I'd rather watch the worst space opera ever than the best of these low rent zombie movies.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of Andrew Liptak Andrew Liptak
    07:57 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    This list makes me so very, very happy.
     Reply
    Andrew Liptak was starred Andrew Liptak was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    07:54 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    Way to stay positive! I'm not sure I'm so optimistic, but the future is always a mixed bag anyway. It's better to focus on being happy.
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of MajorMattMason MajorMattMason
    07:53 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    "...and Duncan Jones (director of Moon) signed on to helm several other scifi projects (including two more movies set in the Moon universe)..."

    Wouldn't that be the "Mooniverse"?
    I should copyright that right now...
     Reply
    Andrew Liptak promoted this comment MajorMattMason was starred MajorMattMason was unstarred
    Image of grubout grubout
    07:35 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    Virgin Galactic makes space tourism more accesable, the next generation of game consoles are born, a black man leads the free world for most of the next decade.
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment grubout was starred grubout was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    07:52 PM

    @grubout: I think I'm gonna more than 10 years to scrape together the necessary $200,000 for a ticket.
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of Shini: R.O.A.C.H. Shini: R.O.A.C.H.
    09:23 PM

    @omgwtflolbbqbye: In 10 years, the price should come down...
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment Shini: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Shini: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    09:32 PM

    @Shini: R.O.A.C.H.: Even if it dropped by half or 75%... that's still quite the vacation budget...
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of twophrasebark twophrasebark
    07:32 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    9. Dubai skyline

    Dubai go bye-bye. They broke. No more money.
     Reply
    twophrasebark was starred twophrasebark was unstarred
    Image of Airport_Whiskey Airport_Whiskey
    07:46 PM

    @twophrasebark: For us explorers of urban ruins that sounds like a dream come true. Should the bubble there explode, rather than just burst, and then everyone leaves it will be a playground that makes Gunkanjima look like just another old house on the corner.
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment Airport_Whiskey was starred Airport_Whiskey was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    08:09 PM

    @twophrasebark: They're not broke yet!
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of bishop1j bishop1j
    07:24 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    #9 Dubai, Ya right. Guess the writer hasn't seen any of the news out of this bankrupt city-state. More likely is the desert reclaiming large portions of the city.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment bishop1j was starred bishop1j was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    07:37 PM

    @bishop1j: Still time for a bailout - in fact one is already in progress.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of MISS MERCY STREET MISS MERCY STREET
    08:00 PM

    @bishop1j: Evil empires like Haliburton have way too much money invested in Dubai to let it go belly up. When the oil runs out, tax shelters and tourism will be all it has to offer.
     Reply
    MISS MERCY STREET was starred MISS MERCY STREET was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    08:06 PM

    @MISS MERCY STREET: I was under the impression that's why Dubai was restructuring itself as a tourist hub in the first place.

    Also I read somewhere (I forgot where so yea 'citation needed' but you can trust me ;)) that Dubai may have run out of money but that's not that big of a deal since Abu Dhabi is still doing pretty well and they have always been and still are the real money maker for the UAE, and it's in their interest to have Dubai up and running a.s.a.p.
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of bishop1j bishop1j
    09:01 PM

    @MISS MERCY STREET: Dubai already has no oil. Most buildings are sitting empty and because of bankruptcy laws requiring jailing the airport parking lots are full of abandoned cars as many have fled the country. Anything of course is possible but Dubai as the future shining example of architecture and futurism is mostly a bust.
     Reply
    bishop1j was starred bishop1j was unstarred
    Image of bishop1j bishop1j
    09:05 PM

    @Annalee Newitz: True, but all signs point to the bail out from Abu Dhabi being more of a take over than a bailout. Either way it will be a fascinating thing to watch over the next 10 years. Either Dubai will reinvent itself again or the dessert will reclaim it.
     Reply
    bishop1j was starred bishop1j was unstarred
    Image of LoganAdams LoganAdams
    07:16 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    I was already planning on trying to stay alive for the next decade. It sure beats the alternative.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment LoganAdams was starred LoganAdams was unstarred
    Image of tonytown tonytown
    07:16 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    "an unprecedented book deal: £1 to write 10 books over the next decade"

    wow a whole british pound to write 10 books? well, i'm sure he have a couple of ha'pennies left over in 2020, if he doesn't get greedy and spend it all. Perhaps, do you mean a million pounds? :)
     Reply
    Unprodigy - Unproductive - Unconscionable promoted this comment Edited by tonytown at 12/30/09 7:18 PM tonytown was starred tonytown was unstarred
    Image of Amethiste Amethiste
    07:15 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    If this means we'll see more sexy sci-fi architecture in the future, sign me up.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Amethiste was starred Amethiste was unstarred
    Image of TheFirstBardo TheFirstBardo
    07:15 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    That Dubai skyline image reminds me of an EEG reading, or seismograph data.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment TheFirstBardo was starred TheFirstBardo was unstarred
    Image of Magical_Monkey Magical_Monkey
    07:12 PM

    In reply to 15 Reasons To Live For The Next 10 Years
    And within the next four decades, the key to human immortality will be discovered.

    You heard it here, folks.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Unprodigy - Unproductive - Unconscionable approved this comment Magical_Monkey was starred Magical_Monkey was unstarred
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