TWS166: Replacing Knowledge With Compatible Reason

CQ: With the growth and common access to global communication technology, and the recognition that the relationships you make with them are often as valuable as those with local people, how do you envision the future society to be connected — or is this all just a fad?

Bumper: Mer, of Braindouche!

Promo: Technorama

Promo: Braindouche!

On the show this week:

• Wacky Front Page!
• Wacky Nature!
• Wacky Science!
• Wacky People!
• Wacky Extras!

Full list of 69 articles after the jump!

• Wacky Front Page!:
  • Not any more!: CBS News – Was April 11, 1954 the Most Boring Day in History?
  • Sadly, it was still behind the writing of science fiction by about 20-30 years..: NASA – NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery
  • Unfortunately, the press release got buried by NASA’s counterprogramming.. Wait.. coincidence?: PR Newswire – Ice Meteorite Found with Extraterrestrial Life-Forms
  • (EXTRA) It’s a combination press release and sales pitch. How strange..: Snyder Icyrite – About the Ice Meteorite!
  • So, yeah.. there’s that.: NASA – Discovery of “Arsenic-bug” Expands Definition of Life
  • Looks like everyone has sudden astrobiological news.. : AOL News – Will Proof of Extraterrestrial Life Be Revealed at a Ramada Inn?
  • This is *far* more interesting than that silly ol’ NASA thing..: New Scientist – Life electric: microbes wire up to share energy
  • No, it’s more like “alien galaxy throwing stones”, but I’ll take it anyway..: Discovery – The Ancient Alien Visitors From Other Stars
  • It’s the ultimate game of “MINE!”.: The Sydney Morning Herald/AFP – Spanish woman takes a shine to the sun
  • This just in: four in five Americans willing to blame themselves for their marriage ending…: The UK Daily Mail – The marriage killer: One in five American divorces now involve Facebook
  • Why not? Just about all other degrees are corporate-sponsored..: The UK Telegraph – McDonald’s launches foundation degree for staff
  • Does Barbie have a secret? Come to think of it, where’s rainbow Barbie, anyway?: Orange – Barbie makers to sue over lesbian calendar
  • Extreme recycling!: AOL News – 100 Recycled Bicycles = 1 Weird Christmas Tree
  • This is surprising because… ?: AOL News – Christmas Caroling Tradition Pioneered by Drunks
  • Personally, I think the market for pear trees is the pits..: Metro – Christmas Price Index sees rise in cost of gold rings, French hens
  • How do you measure the joy index? Oh, wait.. Sub-chart 7. Nevermind!: PNC – True Loves Be Warned: Despite Weak Economic Picture PNC Christmas Price Index® Jumps a Staggering 9.2%
• Wacky Nature!:
  • Apparently, old Yeller was really just acting, too. He didn’t really die. Until later. From a biscuit overdose.: New Scientist – Wildlife film-maker: Everybody’s faking it
  • (EXTRA) Hey, it’s a small country! Or maybe they are going through a down-sizing..: BBC – Tiny chihuahua set to join Japan police
  • An alternative interpretation of the War of the Roses?: WSVN 7 News – Millions of bees dead after invading home
  • I’m pretty sure there’s a market for red honey.. : The New York Times – The Mystery of the Red Bees of Red Hook
  • Mother Nature is the biggest, most parallel and most patient experimentor EVAR.: PhysOrg – Lungfish teeth could hold key to better cars, planes
  • Somehow, I don’t feel any safer..: The UK Telegraph – Teenage great white sharks are too weak to stalk big prey
  • Sadly, the biggest accolade for a smart being, human or horse, is to be in the Guiness book..: AOL News – Super Smart Horse Hoofs It Into Guinness Book
  • (EXTRA) Sadly, I think the horse wins the test of humanity here..: Metro – Human hamster to run 7 marathons in 7 days
  • Ok, maybe there *is* another recognition for a good horse: passing on their genes. It’s down right Darwinian, in a twisted way..: The UK Telegraph – Roman emperors’ horses to be recognised as distinct breed
  • (EXTRA) Soon after, the rise of the Slytherin created the dark ages..: BBC – Rainforest collapse kickstarted reptile evolution
  • Ok, so maybe biodiversity has its uses..: New Scientist – Losing species makes ecosystems sick
  • (EXTRA) There’s nothing morally wrong with this, just biologically. How strange..: New Scientist – Mercury poisoning makes male birds homosexual
  • (EXTRA) Given that they already have too many, I suppose there’s nothing wrong here at all!: People’s Daily Online – Homosexual golden monkeys discovered in Shennongjia
  • (EXTRA) “Oh, look what I found! Just lying around…”: The UK Daily Mail – The Great Ball of China: Six-ton Chinese ‘pearl’ is world’s biggest… and its £88million price tag’s not exactly small either
  • (EXTRA) Must have been a vegetarian. Otherwise: surprise protein!: The UK Daily Mail – That’s a bit too much crunch in my salad: Woman finds live giant Egyptian grasshopper in her bag of greens
  • (EXTRA) Try them in your salad – you won’t even notice the grasshoppers.. Or perhaps you’ll see more..: BBC – Coca leaves first chewed 8,000 years ago, says research
  • (EXTRA) Because we needed it to express our inner turmoil and disquiet and depression.: Discovery On/ANI – Horticulturists develop world’s first black petunia plant
  • (EXTRA) I’m pretty sure they just wanted an excuse to use the sextellion number..: Fox News/AP – Scientists Find 200 Sextillion More Stars in the Sky
  • (EXTRA) I’m pretty sure I just included this story so I could point to the story about “sextillion” again..: New Scientist – Super-Earth’s atmosphere analysed for first time
  • (EXTRA) There’s probably a good joke in here about how he never saw it coming, but I’m not going to stoop that low..: The UK Daily Mail – Love is blind: The man who lost his sight every time he had sex
• Wacky Science!:
  • This time they believe they’ve debugged the process.: The UK Telegraph – Dolly the Sheep ‘reborn’ as four new clones created
  • I wonder what the gestures are for? “EXECUTING TRANSFORMATION!” Uh-oh..: Popular Science – Wii-Powered Robot Chair Lets Infants Zoom Around On Their Own
  • Disapproving mothers cause it to spin in circles..: New Scientist – Tongue clicks to control wheelchairs
  • Strangely, it’s not “step 1: go to absolute zero; step 2: make it colder”.: New Scientist – How to create temperatures below absolute zero
  • (EXTRA) Also: computers will finally acquire a sinister glow when working hard..: New Scientist – Lighting up chips gives computers a brain boost
  • (EXTRA) Granted, a Canadian winter is still cause for concern..: New Scientist – North Americans needn’t worry about vitamin D
  • The other half don’t even believe in France.. 😛: The UK Telegraph – Almost half of all Britons believe in aliens
  • Funny, I didn’t think most scientists believed in ball lightning, either..: BBC – Ball lightning ‘may explain UFOs’
  • (EXTRA) Oh, how backward and ancient seem those things! I mean the books, made of atoms, unbackup-able! 😉: Heterodoxology blog – Save the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica!
  • (EXTRA) Hmm.. maybe you need to have more doctors, then?: RIA Novosti – Russia has ‘more occult healers than doctors’
  • (EXTRA) Um.. welcome to bizarro world!: New Scientist – Vatican scientists urge support for engineered crops
  • (EXTRA) To me, it’s a plan for how we’ll conquer the moon, too!: New Scientist – Sun and sand breed Sahara solar power
  • (EXTRA) I hope he didn’t have chili that day..: The Local Sweden/AFP – Swede plays music from his stomach – ‘sound was bad’
• Wacky People!:
  • (EXTRA) Pretty soon, we’ll have to start finding a scientific basis for free will, or we’re just going to have to reprogram these biological machines..: The UK Telegraph – Oxytocin ‘polarises men’s opinions of their mothers’
  • (EXTRA) And here I read this as: “like to sheep around? blame your genes!”.: LiveScience – Like to Sleep Around? Blame Your Genes
  • The problem is, she’s exploiting her image to get ahead..: Metro – Granny DJ takes New York by storm
  • Let’s face it: rock ‘n’ roll is now getting older..: Wikipedia – People as old than Granny DJ
  • (EXTRA) Even better than 3-D!: New Scientist – Secret Cinema: Exploring mental health first-hand
  • (EXTRA) Might as well just sniff some glue..: WCVB TV5/ABC – Latest Weight Loss Diet: Urine Injections
  • (EXTRA) However, he might start to develop extra eyes all over his extra-thick skin..: Orange – Man loses 20lbs on spud diet
  • (EXTRA) It’s a good thing that all the homeless have already been taken care of… (Although personally, I hate that argument, because it also argues against buying a shirt..): AOL News – Chicken Sweaters: Kindly Brits Knit for Needy Birds
  • (EXTRA) A lady who was likely proud of her booty booty..: AOL News – Cops: Women Hid Stolen Goods Under Body Fat
  • (EXTRA) Sadly, in the past such an error would have led to a lifetime of mistaken identity. Now, he’ll just change his Facebook status..: AOL News – Student Googles Self, Finds He’s Accused of Murder
  • (EXTRA) I imagine that she was running away from the bear driving behind her..: WPXI – Woman Rescued From Pickup Stuck In Evans City Tree Top
  • (EXTRA) Still doesn’t mean he shouldn’t line up for withdrawls..: WPXI – Police: Pa. Man Claims To Be Howard Hughes In Bank
  • (EXTRA) How long before we can substitute “terrorist” for “witch”? Bad days ahead, I fear..: BBC – Shock in Ghana over gruesome death of ‘witch’
  • (EXTRA) More than likely, the cell door was left ajar, rather than thi sbeing an X-File..: The UK Daily Mail – Skinny inmate escapes prison by squeezing through cell bars
  • (EXTRA) Personally, I think a replica of the TARDIS is more useful..: WLWT News 5/NBC – Full-Scale Replica Of Noah’s Ark Planned For Grant Co.
  • (EXTRA) Unless we undersstand the past in exact detail, we are doom to obsess over every. little. thing.: The UK Daily Mail – Christopher Colombowicz: America’s discoverer Polish not Portuguese, claim historians
  • (EXTRA) At a certain point, don’t you just have to say “this wasn’t such a great idea?”?.: Orange – Woman adopts 1,500 stray dogs
• Wacky Extras!:
  • (EXTRA) Really? This is news? This is a common prank here.. The only reason this is news is that this is not news..: KXLY – Crossing Sign Giving Drivers ‘Bronx Salute’
  • (EXTRA) Kernal panic! (Ah, geek humour..): WIVB – ‘Sea of corn’ surges through community
  • (EXTRA) There’s a market for everything.: AOL News – No Conspiracy: Lee Harvey Oswald’s Coffin for Sale

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