CQ: How much of a human can we replace and still call ourselves human? What about the brain? Does it remain human right to the last brain cell?

On the show this week:

• Front Page
• We Are All Mechanical Animals
• Celebreaktions
• Extras

Bumper: Jonathan McNeil of Troll Jammies

Promo: Braindouche!

Promo: Paul E Cooley’s “Closet Treats”

Promo: Just because I couldn’t attend, doesn’t mean that I can’t get something out of Balticon this year! I’ll be listening to The Balticon Podcast

Full list of 57 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • This sorta feels like hackers playing with the rules..: AOL News – Saudi Clerics Advocate Adult Breast-Feeding
  • I wonder if she does good business overseas..: Metro – Mother’s online breast milk service ‘popular with men’
  • Doesn’t all advertising stink? At least this one might smell good..: STV – Smelly sign
  • A plain ol’ ghostie-type story.: STV – Radio ghost mystery at former RAF station
  • The one big Shimizu idea to gain massive attention lately..: AOL News – You Say Moon, I Say Giant Space-Based Solar Plant
  • More big plans.. Must start creating some of these big plans myself..: Shimizu – Other Shimizu Dream Projects
  • Just think of them as the Shimizu of their times..: io9 – Five ancient technologies that were ahead of their times
  • Silly: everybody _knows_ that life in the Canadian North is hardy.. And it may also be Martian?: Discovery News – Template for Life on Mars Found
  • (EXTRA) Hey, give the planet a break! It’s only a young planet!: Science Daily – Earth and Moon Formed Later Than Previously Thought, New Research Suggests
  • Everyone knows how confusing modern facilities can be, and outhouses are much the same..: AOL News – Cambodian ‘Jungle Woman’ Found in Outdoor Toilet
• We Are All Mechanical Animals:
  • Like an internal version of “Groundhog Day”..: The UK Daily Mail – The woman who thinks it’s 1994 every morning – and has to be reminded she’s married – after car crash leaves her with 24-hour memory
  • Hey: being an elite performer takes it’s toll.. I, for example, have podcaster’s butt..: The UK Telegraph – Computer gamers ‘have reactions of pilots but bodies of chain smokers’
  • I’m reminded of the mock-IKEA scene in Fight Club..: New Scientist – Unconscious purchasing urges revealed by brain scans
  • I can imagine a music player that schedules mood music.. And yet, where are the robots that help us?: LiveScience – ‘Smart’ Clothing Responds to Wearer’s Emotions
  • Soon available for moviegoers everywhere..: The Times of India – Optical radar gives ‘vision’ to the blind
  • I expect to see a villain with a silver nose from which he fires “frickin’ LASER beams”..: STV – St Andrews scientists develop ‘artificial nose’ laser for roadside bombs
  • Eventually, it really *will* be all in our minds..: LiveScience – ‘Imaginary’ Interface Could Replace Screens and Keyboards
  • What You See Is What You Sought.: The UK Daily Mail – Science proves beer goggles really do exist
  • (EXTRA) Don’t feel so important, humans: the animals do it too..: BBC – Australia vets treat hundreds of ‘drunk’ parrots
  • I only get drunk for the experiments.: LiveScience – Vodka’s Tasty Secret Revealed in Special Chemistry
  • After all: it *looks* that way…: LiveScience – No, Really: Earth Is Flat In Most Peoples’ Minds
  • We have become an artificial brain prosthesis for dogs, essentially. Who’s the master now?: The UK Telegraph – Dogs ‘too reliant on humans to think for themselves’
  • Creepy, and shows just how little dogs really have autonomy: The UK Daily Mail – The dog that’s just dyeing to be a tiger: How Chinese owners turn their pets into exotic wildlife in new craze
  • (EXTRA) We live in a confusing time when labels are used both derogatively *and* celebratorily..: AOL News – Little People Grapple With ‘M Word’ on Wrestling Show
  • (EXTRA) Dog machines are rather fickle, however..: AOL News – Study: Dog’s Sensitive Schnoz Sniffs Out Prostate Cancer
  • Great.. instead of sending more robots or humans into space, we’ll just start recruiting the ancient existing remains..: Phantoms and Monsters blog – NASA Discovers Lost Soviet Lunar Robot
  • (EXTRA) What was it about the seas that spawned so many variations? A lack of predators? A variety of opportunities? Cthulhu experimenting?: Our Amazing Planet – Whales Evolved in the Blink of an Eye
  • (EXTRA) it’s what all the cool cats use to attract the best strays..: Yahoo!/Reuters – Scientists use Calvin Klein cologne to lure jaguars
  • In the end, we are just atoms that probably can be put to better use..: STV/BangShowBiz – Dead elephant becomes fuel
• Celebreaktions:
  • (EXTRA) Alright folks: mooooove it along!: CNN – Strolling of the Heifers Parade, Brattleboro, VT
  • (EXTRA) You hold your parade, we’ll hold ours..: BBC – Latvia blondes hold festival to beat recession blues
  • (EXTRA) If you need to smoke vulture brains to get better luck, consider changing professions..: The UK Telegraph – World Cup threat to rare vulture
  • (EXTRA) A game so easy, even a flightless bird can get into the act..: AOL News – Penguins Have a Ball in Tokyo
  • (EXTRA) It is remarkably easy to change your name in the UK. Is there any better reason than supporting your local sports team?: Yahoo!/Press Association – 15 Wayne Rooneys behind the bar
  • (EXTRA) Sure, it’s cute, but the seal is just thinking “gimme the doggone snack!”: The Dispatch – EL has a superstar soccer seal
  • (EXTRA) The rug really brings the room together. – The Dude: BBC – England fan turfs lounge of Sutton Coldfield home
  • (EXTRA) If you build something like this, you can write your own cheque. Unfortunately, only charities have cheques that big..: AOL News – 16-Foot Pen Is Mightier Than a Sword — and Heavier
  • (EXTRA) I wonder why they stopped there? Couldn’t find a ladder long enough to add more?: AOL News – Netherlands Town Claims Tallest Lego Tower
  • (EXTRA) I think this officially kills the meme! Done!: Orange UK – Students set Coke fountain record
  • (EXTRA) The secret: talc yer butt.: AOL News – Keeping a Poker Face: Vegas Pro Breaks Gambling Record
  • (EXTRA) Some people really make a statement with their bodies. I admire that immensely — my body just says “snacks are good”..: AOL News – Man Gets Kicks With Route 66 Tattoos
  • (EXTRA) The secret: burn all your identity forms to avoid the Secret Police..: ABC Australia/AFP – Census records 157-year-old woman
  • (EXTRA) It’s one thing to be proud of who you are – it’s quite another to deliberately make yourself someone worse..: Yahoo!/Reuters – Woman striving to be world’s heaviest
  • (EXTRA) Wasn’t Lassie, like, 40 years old?: The Daily Yomiuri – On the scent of Guinness record for oldest living dog
  • (EXTRA) This may be just the thing to achieve the world’s heaviest person title..: Metro – Burger the size of a cow a world record?
  • (EXTRA) Eventually, all of the land will be littered with the places that people died, because they don’t die in convenient, collective places like graveyards..: AOL News – Where Stars Fall, Shrines Often Rise
  • (EXTRA) The latest craze, and one that affects two kinds of rodents!: The UK Guardian – Rat fur: the latest fashion accessory
  • (EXTRA) Ah, what tangled drinks we leave, when first we imagine, then we heave..: Metro – Tarantula cocktail – the worst cocktail ever?
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) Well, the Chinese *were* the ones who invented fireworks..: The UK Telegraph – Chinese farmer declares war on property developers with homemade wheelbarrow cannon
  • (EXTRA) More fallout regarding Hawking frightful declaration that we should shutup or the aliens will hear us..: The Colombia Tribune – Hawking’s warning opens debate: UFOs deserve further study.
  • (EXTRA) Probably the hairy bits..: LiveScience – Humans and Neanderthals Mated, Making You Part Caveman
  • (EXTRA) A tale of frighteningly-proportioned shellfish.: Fortean Zoology/Still On The Track – The giant crab of Hilbre Island
  • (EXTRA) Stanton Friedman’s eternal quest to be the most talked about UFOlogist continues. 😉: AOL News – Nuclear Physicist Describes Vast UFO Cover-Up
  • (EXTRA) Only here because of BSG and fracking, of course..: The Philidelphia Inquirer – Activist nuns bringing fracking to a vote
  • (EXTRA) It seems confirmed to be the recent successful non-NASA space rocket, despite time shifts..: ABC Australia – UFO spotted over eastern Australia
  • (EXTRA) Remember: if you bring a weapon to a fight, you’d better be better than your opponents at using it. ESPECIALLY if you are fighting elephants..: The Australian Herald Sun – Flame-throwing elephants clash with humans over resources in Bangladesh
  • (EXTRA) I suspect a new sport has been born..: The UK Telegraph – Boy survives falling off balcony after bouncing off palm trees

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