catbirdseat

I don't know anything about climbing. I just come here to spray.

When you read about the first reported case in the US, get your doc to write a prescription for Tamiflu. I'm serious.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At Palisades: I am absolutely ravenous. I could just eat a horse. Can I order two lobsters?

Not too many years ago "today" and "tonight" were still written as to-day, to-night, so why not alright? I still prefer all right.

The chicas might care.

Do us a favor and send us a snapshot of what you look like after you have finished.

Last time I checked 1812 came before 1925, so yes.

Exit 38, Gunshow?

Hell no, when you just "drop in" from above, parking's a snap. It's what "thrusters" are for.

Buwahahaha, indeed.

I think that evolution of humans from this point forward will not be due to natural selection, but through recombinant DNA methods. First we will learn how to detect and remove the gene mutations that cause hereditary diseases. People will no longer get Cystic Fibrosis, Huntington's disease or Tay Sachs. In the next phase, genes will be identified that PREDISPOSE us to common diseases of aging, for example heart disease. There is a protein in long lived people that prevents atherosclerosis by making more high density lipoprotein (good cholesterol). It may be that this is done through DNA transfers to an isolated egg cell or to sperm cells, or it may be done through cloning with modification. Another strategy might involve adding promotors that improve the expression of existing genes. Possibly multiple copies of genes might be made. Another prospect might be borrowing genes from other species. It might be possible to transfer the gene for Vitamin C synthesis so we no longer need a supplement. We might transfer the gene for telomerase so that our cells will take longer to reach senescense and we might live to 200 years of age. The final phase, which is very far off, will involve creating entirely new genes.

Where does all this extra sensory shit come from? People really thing that we'll evolve telepathy. What a lot of rubbish. There is no evidence whatsoever in the animal world for telepathy. Animals can detect things like magnetic fields and vibrations we can't, but that is about it. Human kind might get smarter, but we won't be reading minds.

Every time Western gives him a day pass.

Well they exploited the natural resources after sowing disease among the native population, and/or they exploited the population itself. So do you think AIDS was left behind by some visiting Aliens to soften us up?

Source?

Duh is not a very good answer.

Supposing you were the aliens studying a primitive race such as humans on a distant planet. What sort of information would your scientific study be looking for? Maybe you are just a tourist out for shits and giggles. Whether you were a scientist or a tourist would make a huge impact on how you behaved.

My personal opinion or "belief" if you will, is that aliens exist, but that they are many light years away with no practical way to get here. I have yet to see convincing evidence that they have ever visited the earth. You may have seen an unexplained phenomenon in 1963, but it wasn't necessarily a spaceship from another planet, and it didn't leave behind any physical evidence, so I wouldn't dwell on it too much.

Like what? Pro?

Yes, I believe so.

Do you cut the polenta into pieces, or otherwise break it up?

If aliens were to land in Times Square and announce "take me to your leader", some of us will decide they are gods and worship them, while others will decide they are invaders and want to kill them, scientists will want to study them, politicians will try to curry their favor. It would be very interesting to say the least. How would it affect our cosmology? Good question. It would tend to support what many scientists like Carl Sagan were saying, which is that our sun is a rather ordinary star and there are other star systems out there with planets similar to earth that could support life. If an alien were to give me a drop of its blood, it be willing to bet the cells therein would contain DNA. The codons might be different and the number of amino acids might be different, but it would be DNA nonetheless.

Bring on Paul Whiteman! The King of Jazz

What is a Bugel? Do you mean bugle?