- HIV vaccine “reduces infection” – “An experimental HIV vaccine has for the first time cut the risk of infection, researchers say.”
- A million spiders make silk for a rare cloth – It took 70 people 4 years of collecting golden orb spiders and extracting their silk to produce the cloth. The silk extraction does not harm the spiders. (Arachnaphobes beware, photo of big ass spiders.)
- Charlie Chaplin as a cure-all – From Steve.
- Ghostshark discovered with sexual organ on its head – From Rav Winston, resident shark pervert.
- Cute Animal Friday! Aww, look, it’s a baby bongo! No, not the drum, the four-legged animal. And one can never have too much basement cat in one’s life.
The Norwegian name for ghostshark is ocean mouse.
Just had to share that.
Ghostshark gives a whole new meaning to the term “dickhead.” Wait, too soon?
I need to get some evil shipped to me…
“Ocean Mouse?” Really? Was is just randomly named or was there a reason?
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): Sure. Send me $500 in cash, and I will deny receiving it. ?We will go from there until I think you have your money’s worth.
WOW, I have 2 random phobias, and both of them get hit in the same post! Fear of sharks AND fear of spider!
Who saw that coming?
Whoa. A vaccine for HIV would be *incredible!* But could you imagine the controversy, with all that’s said about Gardasil?
As for the shark (or chimera), the fact that this sentence: “We’re not sure if it is used to stimulate the female or hold the female closer.”
follows this : “It’s like a little mace with little spikes and hooks and it fits into their forehead. It’s jointed and it comes out.”
…makes me uncomfortable.
And I know she’s not an all-black cat, but I love Tim’s possessed looking Jinx! http://twitpic.com/e8oep
@infinitemonkey: I predicted that this would happen to you. If you mail me $500, I’ll let you see the piece of paper that I wrote my prediction on.
@Skept-artist: I’m sorry, you should have contacted me earlier for the $500. You can still email a copy if you’re so inclined.
@infinitemonkey:
Ceiling Cat, of course.
In the beginning, Chaplin cre….
@Skept-artist: *Sigh* Fine. I just have to find a copy of a newspaper of sufficient age to photograph next to the prophecy. This is the only way to make it look legit. Ugh, being a fake psychic is a pain in the ass…
UGH! That should be: @infinitemonkey:
One of my best friends in High School was among the first one hundred in the US to die of AIDS. This seems so long ago and to finally hear news that there may be a turning point in the near future to prevent HIV infection spread is absolutely amazingly fantastic.
@infinitemonkey: I see your two and raise it. I have three. Sharks, spiders and Charlie Chaplin.
@Skept-artist: Well, if you can find a newspaper with your prophesy in it, and have it properly dated, I might accept that, but I would also need the contact information for the newspaper to verify this is not a forgery.
-You’re not dealing with an ametuer here.
@Andrew Nixon: Fear of Charlie Chaplin? What’s the name for that? Is it in the Big Book of Phobias? Or is it more like fear of being out of cell phone range?
@James Fox: I currently know people who have HIV. I hold much hope that they will be some of the last to die from it, but I’m saddened that this promising research had come just a few years too late. :(
@Andrew Nixon: You are afraid of Charlie Chaplin? Wow.
@James Fox: I too have lost people to AIDS… I was so happy to read this article. Even though it isn’t here yet, it gives me hope that it will be here someday!
@Kaylia_Marie: I’m only joking!
@infinitemonkey: Damn. Reputable source. Just because a particular newspaper doesn’t exist does not mean it isn’t reputable. I mean, come on! Isn’t my word good enough? I’m one of the world’s leading “intuitives-who-predict-stuff-after-they-happen”. Hook it up, iMonkey!
@QuestionAuthority: The species out in our part of the ocean is the Chimaera monstrosa which is apparently called rabbitfish in English. So ancient Norse mariners aren’t the only ones thinking they look rodenty.
At first I was excited about the possibility of an HIV vaccine, but the report said that only 51 out of 8,197 people who got the vaccine became infected, and only 74 out of 8,198 people in the placebo group got it. I’m not a statistician, but those infections rates seem way too low to draw a good conclusion from.
@catgirl: I think the idea is that we now know a bit more than we did… so that even if this isn’t the solution, it is a very big step is getting us close to the solution.
Baby steps… but steps nonetheless….
@Kaylia_Marie:
I realize that it was never claimed to be a solution, but even a 30% reduction in infection rates doesn’t mean very much when you’re going from 74 down to 51. It seems like chance could easily account for 23 cases.
@catgirl: Aye… they even say as much. Which is why we need “urgent replication and investigation.”
Still, it is some of the first not-horrible news regarding AIDs in a while.
With the ghostshark, it’s just a matter of efficiency. Since they tend to think with that one anyway, it was moved closer to the bit that handles autonomic functions. ;-)