Bacteria make computers look like pocket calculators

Bacteria make computers look like pocket calculators

• Ashby’s Law trumps Moore’s Law. Not much more to say.

Google hits to warn of flu epidemics

Google hits to warn of flu epidemics

• This looks like a classical double-edged sword to me.
• Before you know it, those with access to search engine trails will be able to pinpoint the hangouts of godless heathens, foreign language speakers or even Democrats.

Iraqi Death Estimate

Iraqi Death Estimate

• Every time I see something about how over 4,000 American soldiers have died in Iraq, I ask myself why they don’t give any numbers for Iraqi casualties at the same time.
• Since that number turns out to be in seven figures (combatants and civilians), I no longer ask myself why it hasn’t been widely publicized.

Contagion and Remission of Ideologies

Contagion? Remission? Of ideologies? What, is an ideology a disease, then?

In a word, yes.

An ideology is a seemingly coherent set of beliefs that, at best, emanates from a small handful of unfalsifiable postulates. (At worst, the beliefs are much more random and self-contradictory than that.) Because these postulates are unassailable, the entire belief system — the entire ideology — is built on a house of cards. So, too, is the life of the person afflicted with ideology.

Harvard Team Makes 10 Disease-Bearing Stem Cell Lines

Rob Waters reports on a new development in stem cell research — Harvard University scientists have made lines of stem cells, able to turn into any other cell in the body, from bits of skin or blood of 10 patients with genetic diseases including muscular dystrophy and juvenile diabetes, using Yamanaka’s technique for creating what Yamanaka calls “induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPS cells”. This is a favored technique for two key reasons: it is relatively easy and inexpensive to perform and it doesn’t require the use of human embryos or unfertilized eggs. Because human embryos aren’t used or harmed to create the IPS cells, the method sidesteps current ethical concerns.

Media Ethics and the Myth of “Newsworthiness”

With the new adhocracy of the blogosphere, the tired, overly dramatic legacy of professional journalists may be drawing to a close.

Gwladys Fouché: Big business can and should make ethical investments

Gwladys Fouché: Big business can and should make ethical investments

Safety and Ethical Aspects of Synthetic Biology

Safety and Ethical Aspects of Synthetic Biology

• We’d better locate an exit or two before we decide to dance with the Devil.

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology — upcoming events in their conference section. “Making life better, one part at a time”.

What’s New in Bio IT

For the very latest on cutting edge biotech, www.bio-itworld.com is the website to read. For anything genomic, or anything relating informatics with medical science, this is the place. Most interesting to me from the June, 2008 issue of the magazine version was the article on the www.23andMe.com company’s “Gene Journal”. Health 2.0 is here (along with 21st century Anthro 101!)