Show Notes for TWS078: Humanufacturing the Universe
On the show this week:
- WE GOTTA GET OFF THIS ROCK!
- Humanufacturing the World
This week’s Challenge Question:
Is domesticating animals keeping them down – or lifting them up? Will we “uplift” any other animals – through affection, genetics, robotics, cybernetics, etc? Or what *should* we uplift and for what purpose?
Leave your answer in the comments, send your email to weirdshow[[at]]gmail.com, record your message via the MobaTalk client on the right hand side of Encaffeinated!, leave an answer on Facebook or call in at 206-203-2292.
Full links to all stories covered and many more after the jump!
- Theme Song: Caffeine by Grubspoon from The Podsafe Music Network
- Responses
- Thanks to: MrGadgets, Mike, Jen, Arkle
- WE GOTTA GET OFF THIS ROCK!
- Does it come in red? – New Scientist: ‘Sports car’ of commercial spaceflight unveiled
- They’re clever with the spacecraft; not so much with the economics.. – New Scientist: NASA reverses budget cuts that threatened Mars rovers
- The salt lick of the solar system; oh, how the mighty have fallen! – BBC: Mars is ‘covered in table salt’
- Water, water, everywhere.. And on a moon, they think! – Yahoo!/AP: Saturn moon may have ocean of water
- The dark side of the moon should be reserved for listening to space.. and Pink Floyd. – New Scientist: Conserve the moon for radio astronomy
- Someday! Someday! Someday! Come on down to the Monster Moon Truck Rally! – New Scientist: Lunar Chariot prepares to tear up some moon dust
- EXTRA: Look not into space for your answers — look deep within yourselves! – SETI: Aliens from Earth?
- An official site for an unknown? Wacky! – Stephenville Lights: The Official Web Site of the Stephenville Lights
- An official description of the unknown. – American Chronicle: Diagram, description of Texas UFO by law officers released to public
- EXTRA: I didn’t do it! – Yahoo!/AP: Star explodes halfway across universe
- EXTRA: “Darn kids! GET YOUR MOTHERFRAKKIN’ SPACESHIP OFF MY MOTHERFRAKKIN LAWN! – Yahoo!/Reuters: Russian farmer sues space agency for falling rocket
- Humanufacturing the World
- Because they are more like us, if we make them that way. – The Guardian: Learning to love robots
- Propaganda or science? Are “terminator” seeds more killer than was thought? – Centre for Research on Globalization: Death of the Bees: GMO Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America
- I always said that healthy food would kill you someday.. – New Scientist: Mystery food poisoning traced to salads
- EXTRA: Instincts trump higher thought? – New Scientist: ‘Diet’ foods may not fool the brain
- “Humanity *is* my business!” – New Scientist: Investor puts his money in the rainforest
- There is always a twist.. – New Scientist: ‘Twisting’ light packs more information into one photon
- They’re gonna DOOM the WORLD.. with SCIENCE! – MSNBC/Cosmic Log: Doomsday fears spark lawsuit
- Turns out, it has to do with the “missing sock effect”. Or not. – New Scientist: Lightning strikes governed by moving cloud layers
- Reach out and touch your phone. Is this “gadgets gone wild”, or are such things essential? – New Scientist: Phones with feeling are more useful
- So, *that’s* where all those Wii’s were going! The shortage is related to the WAR! – New Scientist: Wii and iPhone to help military control freaks
- Kinda like solar cells for non-light radiation. Cool. – New Scientist: Nanomaterial turns radiation directly into electricity
- And bend, and twist, and fold, and phone! – New Scientist: Stretchy circuits promise elastic gadgets
- The Japanese are rapidly replacing themselves with robots. – Yahoo!/AFP: In Japan, robot babysitter always ready to play
- A rule of thumb: don’t lose your thumb. – CBS News: Medicine’s Cutting Edge: Re-Growing Organs
- “Therapeutic cloning” is used in a similar snse as “radiation therapy”.. – New Scientist: Therapeutic cloning used to treat brain disease
- You can’t tell the sex of the child when you can’t even figure out the sex of the parent. – ABC News: Oregon Man Says He’s Pregnant
- Give a dog a Buddha? – Ananova: Praying dog joins temple
- Ah, the new RadCat, just in time for Christmas! – Ananova: Radioactive cat mistaken for bomb
- Teehee! Isn’t it cute that we can give animals our vices! Monkeys on monkey’s back, as they say.. – Rareverhalen: China: Man Has A Cigarette Smoking Pet Turtle
- Extra-Special
- EXTRA: Chatty Aunt Katrina was a Neanderthal? – New Scientist: Neanderthals wore make-up and liked to chat
- EXTRA: On the trail of a myserious photograph that looks really fake (because it was so good). – The Mercury News: UFO probe leads to Capitola, but not to answers
- EXTRA: Climate change? What climate change? I’ll just be over here with my head in the sand.. – The Australian: Climate facts to warm to
- EXTRA: Smart people should be revered and treated with respect, not forced to work as janitors until they can eventually solve all the worlds problems.. Although, it *is* a technique that seems to work.. – msnbc/AP: 63-year-old solves riddle from 1970
- EXTRA: And *I* thought they were just for hanging *guns* from.. – Metro: Moose antlers help with hearing
- EXTRA: Animal training or Auschwitz-style segregation? – The Daily Mail: It may be a White Easter, but these dogs know how to make their sheep say ‘spring’
- EXTRA: Cthulhu’s influence has finally manifested.. – Brieitbart.com/AP: Giant Marine Life Found in Antarctica
- EXTRA: They’re KILLING us! – BBC: Leaping ray kills Florida boater
- EXTRA: We’re KILLING them! – The Daily Mail: Starmageddon: As thousands of starfish wash up on our beaches, what is to blame for destroying one of nature’s little marvels?
- EXTRA: Another ABC (Alien Big Cat) sighting. (Sidenote: if I have to put the explanation every time, does it make sense to use the acronym “ABC”?) – The Border Telegraph: Watch out for the Bridgelands Beast
- EXTRA: Caddyshack II! – Yahoo!/Reuters: Gophers notch a win in man-rodent battle
- EXTRA: Using elephants as camera operators. Are the unions upset? – BBC: Trunk-cam reveals jungle secrets
- EXTRA: Which is totally awesome.. if you like fungi.. (Ewww) – ScienceDaily: Ants Are Experienced Fungus Farmers
- EXTRA: I wanna see the steampunk contraption with a shark in a jar attached to a meter! I wanna! I wanna! – BBC: Sharks ‘may predict the storms’
- EXTRA: Laziest. Fishers. EVAR. – Breitbart.com/AP: Sound May Teach Fish to Catch Themselves
- EXTRA: So humanity isn’t the only animal to use useless crap to woo the ladies? Hmmm… – BBC: Dolphin woos with wood and grass
- EXTRA: That’s it, stop now. – News24/SA: Rodents ‘are smart enough’
- EXTRA: Hey, if *you* were a bat, wouldn’t *you* be distressed? – Standard Freeholder: Plenty of mystery surrounding diseased bats
- EXTRA: One man’s brave stand and dedication to the totally weird. I envy his courage. – The Guardian: Nessie and me
- EXTRA: Photos never lie. They neve tell the truth, however, either. – Your Guide To Canberra/Glen Innes Examiner: Photographs back yowie hunch: claim
- EXTRA: Is a sufficiently broad and hefty collection of weak evidence any stronger? – The Utah Statesman: Author says evidence proves Bigfoot exists
- EXTRA: I blame the dolphins. – New Scientist: Have peacock tails lost their sexual allure?
- EXTRA: Next, they learn to play the banjo. – New Scientist: Birds team up to solve food puzzle
- EXTRA: Newts make lousy landlords. Or tenants. Or snacks. – Ananova: Couple evicted by newts
- Rape is traumatic enough.. rape by wombats would be.. very disturbing (or a werewolf flick). – Metro: ‘Wombat rape victim’ cried wolf
- Turnabout is forced play? Or: remember the Golden Rule: do onto others as you would have a sasquatch do onto you. – ABC News7: Convicted Molester Claims He Was A Victim of Bigfoot
- EXTRA: “Run! Big flamin’ Jesus!” – BBC: Cathedral emptied by Easter fire
- EXTRA: A haunting encounter. – Baltimore Sun: A room to chill the blood
- EXTRA: I think the witches might be better served by Harry Potter, actually.. – MTV: Far From Devil Worship And ‘Harry Potter,’ Young Witches Explain What They’re Really About
- EXTRA: And by “explore”, they mean “lecture”, which can also mean “bore”. – Planet Blacksburg: Professor To Explore The Paranormal Universe
- EXTRA: A little lie-down is usually good for the soul, but the grave might have been a bit much. – Metro: Vicar upset that grave therapy didn’t work out
- EXTRA: Wow! My mom *always* threatened to sit on me when I was a brat! I’m glad I reformed, or I could be dead today. – Star-Telegram/AP: South Texas toddler may have been crushed by obese relative
- EXTRA: A two-faced child, destined to be the rebirth of a god or politics. – Telegraph: Indian woman gives birth to ‘miracle’ child
- EXTRA: “I’m not quiet dead, yet.” – The Guardian: Man declared dead says he feels good
- EXTRA: It’s like a Goldberg device combined with Strange Luck. – KOAT: Family Mourns After Bizarre Tragedy
- EXTRA: No, vampirism isn’t the secret to her longevity, *leeches* are. – BBC: Demi hails blood-sucking therapy
- EXTRA: That which does not kill you, kills the problem. – New Scientist: Carbon monoxide could fight disease
- EXTRA: How much were those genes (in the window)? – New Scientist: Genome is a snip at $60,000
- EXTRA: Hawk a loogie.. for health. – New Scientist: Protein ‘map’ of human spit created
- EXTRA: Smart bandages for dumb organs. – New Scientist: ‘Band aid’ burns to check transplant organ health
- EXTRA: Pot bellies drive people wild. – New Scientist: Big bellies may double the risk of dementia
- EXTRA: Ninja or gramma? Are these mutually exclusive? – The Telegraph: Blind luck helps archer make one-in-a-million Robin Hood shot
- EXTRA: The punchline: it was the *wrong* horse! – BBC: Hospital bridles at horse in lift
- EXTRA: Kinda like the media: “Pay attention over here; pay no attention over there, where bad stuff is happening.” – BBC: ‘Hypnotist’ thief hunted in Italy
- EXTRA: It’s the code: everyone for themselves! – Metro: Thief forgets to take son on getaway
- EXTRA: It’s like a headline ripped from the pulp stories of the 20s! – The Guardian: Circus sisters rescued from snake and piranha acts
- EXTRA: Just because your old, doesn’t mean you can’t be treated like a crazed madman. – Ananova: Armed police tackle OAP on scooter
- EXTRA: Just wait until the subcutaneous computing systems are created! – Metro: Woman ‘made to remove nipple ring with pliers’
- EXTRA: Dog Fu’d. – Metro: Man not insured for failure to use karate on dogs
- EXTRA: The prosecution, one Lou C. Fer, is also seeking damages. – The Daily Telegraph: Arrest warrant issued for ‘God’
- EXTRA: Someone hit a *really* big mud puddle? – WOAI: Why Was It Raining Mud?
- EXTRA: I think I’ll submit “How Not To Name A Book, You Turd!” next year. Or not. – Ananova: Legs manual wins odd title prize
- EXTRA: I wish *my* birthdays were celebrated with attractive women in bikinis! – Ananova: RAF’s birthday bikini
- EXTRA: Proving once again that kids are stupid today. – Ananova: King William (Shakespeare)
- EXTRA: No wonder people don’t have a sense of history! It keeps moving! What next, the pyramids in Vegas? – Ananova: Stonehenge down under
- EXTRA: Sometimes, you hope the Eye blinks. – Ananova: Trapped tourists go potty
- EXTRA: Does the final score depend upon their final “score”? – Ananova: Plan a bank raid – students told
- EXTRA: The game gets pimp-slapped! – Ananova: Miss Bimbo game slammed
- EXTRA: A class where everyone wants the homework.. – Ananova: Love lessons bid to boost birth rate
- EXTRA: It wasn’t on the map, and he didn’t want to pull over for directions. – Ananova: Pilot refuses to land at new airport
- EXTRA: Sounds like she was dumb enough to *deserve* the McJob.. Although she can have fun saying “treat me right, or I’ll buy this franchise and fire your ass!” – Ananova: Lotto winner goes back to McJob
- EXTRA: Woo! After that other bridge was created, I thought that kids would no longer have exotic ways to get to school. Thankfully not. – BBC: Crocodile crossing for SA pupils
- EXTRA: The ancient San TA writings are on the walls.. – Send2Press: Saving Santa Claus: Ancient Petroglyph May be Key to Christmas Legend
- EXTRA: The source of the SanTA writings. – Nine Mile Canyon Coalition: Help Save Santa!
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