- Chinese father punished for food safety activism – “A father who organized a support group for other parents whose children were sickened in one of China’s worst food safety scandals was convicted and sentenced Wednesday to 2 1/2 years in prison for inciting social disorder, his lawyer said.” From Joel.
- A golden opportunity to rethink genetically modified foods – “Using DNA analysis, Swedish scientists recently discovered that genetic modification—a transgenic process routinely maligned as “unnatural” by its critics—actually took place under perfectly natural conditions about 700,000 years ago.” From Rosaire.
- All life on earth could have come from alien zombies – “Life on Earth could have grown from the broken remains of alien viruses that, although dead, still contained enough information to give rise to new life.” From cerberus40.
- First ever sex toy drive-through opens in Alabama – Best  comment on that post, “Can I super size it?”
Re: Alien viruses seeding life on Earth.
It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t know that it’s all that helpful myself. All that theory really does is push the origin of life out into space. It doesn’t explain it.
Where did those viruses come from?
Under what conditions did they arise?
Can we find specimens of them today in space?
Finding about “natural” GMOs should not make anyone rethink their position, because it’s irrelevant. It’s just the appeal to nature fallacy. GMOs aren’t any more or less safe because of their natural status.
@catgirl: The article isn’t about natural genetic modification. It’s about golden rice and the way that it’s being made available specifically to poor farmers in China, without all of the restrictions usually placed on farmers who buy GMO seeds.
*snort* “Necropanspermia.”
Drive-through purchasing of the giant atheist holiday dildo FTW! Many thanks to Satans Parakeet’s comment on the War on Christmas post for burning that hilarious image into my brain :)
@scribe999: Drive-through purchasing of the giant atheist holiday dildo FTW!
Speaking of which I wonder how much work it would take to convert the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. into something, um, slightly different.
The “super size” comment was good, but “$5 footlongs?” GMV.
@davew: Whatever the cost it MUST be done!
Three lanes? Kinky!
I love how in order to genetically modify a plant, you have to do in the highest level security bio hazard greenhouse (I forget the exact level number, but I do believe it is the same security requirements to handle anthrax). But anyone who can get their meat hooks on some radioactive material can blast as many seeds with radiation as they want, and scatter them to the wind, i.e. no regulation on that kind of plant modification.
Selecting and inserting specific bits of genetic material or creating mutations in mass…Both are safe (excluding the threat of food allergies in GM plants) but only one is vilified. .