To me, this article is notable only because the disease (a cattle disease known as “Rinderpest”) would only be the second disease, after smallpox, that our efforts have eliminated.
We like to think that we, as a race, are technologically advanced… but something like this points out just how far we still have to go.
Well, that would certainly explain a few politicians and TV personalities. 😉
(For all I know, he’s absolutely right. But I consider it pretty unlikely.)
Even fearsome venomous snakes should know never to mess with the Roomba.
To quote Isaac Asimov: “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…'” This is another “That’s funny…” moment, and I’m very curious to hear what the cause turns out to be. Along with some other recent and curious discoveries, it suggests that the universe isn’t quite as ordered and predictable as we’ve thought.
Monopoly: The Movie? Apparently not as far-fetched as it seems at first glance.
It’s a good question, and one that we simply don’t have the information to answer yet. We can’t even prove that there are E.T.s at this point.
From the science that I’ve read, it’s likely that life is fairly common in the universe. And once you have life, you have a biological arms race to develop ever-improved versions of it as that life competes with itself for resources. But I can’t see that humanoid life is anywhere near inevitable. It’s nearly ideal for us, but I can imagine lots of paths to a stable long-term ecology where other body forms would be better suited.
(And don’t even get me started on intelligence… the odds against that may be truly astronomical.)
It makes sense, things that are “good for you” never feel good. 😉
Now if we could only get more people to use it… there’s a nail salon near our house that proudly declares itself “Finger’s & Toe’s”. I wince every time I see their sign… unless it’s run by two people with the nicknames of Finger and Toe, they really need to check their punctuation.
Hm… maybe the sign of the Golden Pyramids was just as bad for you as the Golden Arches. 😉
I’ve long suspected that brains don’t have to be human-sized for intelligence.