genomeboy.com

Dr. Kao did not deny placing large numbers of seeds outside the prostate, but he said investigators were wrong to single him out. “It’s a recognized risk of the procedure,” he told the panel.

Dr. Kao’s assertion was disputed by Steven A. Reynolds, who oversees materials safety at the N.R.C., which regulates all nuclear materials. Cases where large numbers of seeds miss the prostate, Mr. Reynolds said, “happen very, very infrequently.”

Mr. Specter called the accusations against Dr. Kao serious. Responding to questions from the senator, Dr. Kao confirmed that he had on occasion implanted seeds in the bladder.

“Did you notify the patient?” Mr. Specter asked.

“No, sir,” Dr. Kao replied.

Ahem. Take it away…

The editor-in-chief of a journal is to resign after claiming that the publisher, Bentham Science Publishing, accepted a hoax article for publication without his knowledge.The fake, computer-generated manuscript was submitted to The Open Information Science Journal by Philip Davis, a graduate student in communication sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and Kent Anderson, executive director of international business and product development at The New England Journal of Medicine. They produced the paper using software that generates grammatically correct but nonsensical text, and submitted the manuscript under pseudonyms in late January.

Well, now I know what I want for my birthday.

An oldie but a goodie

While tests were unable to determine how Craigslist contracted human papillomavirus, the site’s casual relationships with more than 40 million users nationwide is likely to blame. Internal records revealed that Craigslist routinely allowed complete strangers to sign up on its site, the vast majority of them sexually perverse, morally depraved, and lacking even rudimentary hygiene skills.

“We tried to ignore the signs, but every day more and more of those weird wart-looking things started showing up on our home page,” said a Craigslist developer who wished to remain anonymous. “I honestly didn’t think it was possible, but the cotton swabs confirmed it. Craigslist has HPV.”

Daniel MacArthur remains at the top of his game, whether the occasion is blogging mommies or April Fool’s Day:

During a four hour-long monologue that was often rambling and at times completely incoherent, pausing only for breath and to wipe the froth from around his mouth, Murphy described a complex 457-point takeover strategy involving regulatory and legal challenges, accusations of eugenics, the construction of an online social network based on knitting to compete with 23andMe’s Pregnancy Community, boycotting of the company by all doctors over the age of 35 and, “if absolutely necessary,” the physical storming of 23andMe’s Mountain View compound by hired Somali pirates.

Genetics and biotech industry experts expressed skepticism about the feasibility of Murphy’s plan. “Somali pirates are notoriously fierce,” acknowledged Duke University’s Misha Angrist, ”but the 23andMe compound is well-defended by a series of Google-designed bulletproof robotic monkeys. If it actually came to gunplay I’d back the monkeys any day.”

Wow. He even got my syntax right. Scary.

From the unedited Wikipedia discussion page on Harvard psychologist, bestselling author and most importantly, member of the PGP10, Steven Pinker:

• The man was born and raised in Canada and spent a large sum of his life within the nation of Canada (Pinker himself points this within his books). Make mention of it in the article with due respect and be done with it.

“just like we don’t call Henry Kissinger a German statesman or Tolkien a South African author (at most, German-born American statesman or South African-born author), we shouldn’t call Pinker a Canadian… Mikkerpikker.”

• I am at a loss as to this elusive WE!! Wikipedia belongs to the world not one Ameri-centric view point. The foly of the above stated logic is that infact famous people do often get recognised with multiple nationalities, it just depends on what text you refrence (and where the text was published). Alexander Graham Bell is credited as a Scotish, Canadian, and American, inventor of the telephone, regardless of where he was working at the time he created his invention. Sir James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, is credited as both a Canadian, and an American inventor. Following this line of logic, Pinker has invented many theories and can be credited in this method.

• Further, Pinker spent his university days studying experimental psychology at McGill University in Canada this information can be found within any of his recent publications, such as: How the Mind Works, About the author, penguin books, 1999.

• I would appeal to peoples commonsense that it is clearly accepted that a man born, raised, and schooled within a nation is clearly of that nationality in our commonsense use of the word, despite whatever documents he may posses of citizenship at the time. (How else would people be capable of conceptualizing such terms as 2nd or 3rd generation Italian-Canadian.)

• The encyclopedia britannica has decided to call Steven Pinker Canadian-born American.

“At the forefront of cognitive science in 1999 was Canadian-born American experimental psychologist Steven Pinker, who in October published an eagerly anticipated book, Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language. In a highly praised earlier book, How the Mind Works (1997), Pinker discussed the development of the human brain in terms of natural selection, applying a Darwinian…”[3].

• At the very least it seems fitting to follow in suit with this title. It does not follow that this is to deny Steven Pinkers Canadian-ness, but to recognise it. And as is fitting, he can be cited as both a Canadian and American Professor (as in the above examples of famous people).

• In closing (jestfuly) I must point out that Steven Pinker enjoys the game of Hockey, unofficially that makes anyone 90% Canadian, by default.–Scottmcmaster 10:17, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Clearly the genotype-phenotype problem continues to dog us. (Who is this elusive “US?!” — ed.)

via Slate

Qu’est-ce que c’est? A refugee from Bee Movie? The love child of a large drug-addicted boll weevil and a mutant Pittsburgh Steeler?  No and no. Why, it’s SYRINGE MAN. Mise en garde, Peloton!

(via Deadspin)

Q: Don’t you think most of us want to be loved for who we are, as opposed to some artificially enhanced version of ourselves?
A: That will never happen. Are you out of your mind?

Joan Rivers on the enhancement imperative.

And it makes a swell gift.