(no subject)

[conuly]

How gunboat diplomacy helped democratize shaved ice

Mr. Kim’s Lonely Fight to Preserve a Korean Tradition

NASA eyes the ocean: How the deep sea could unlock outer space

Earth's inner core is doing something weird

Where Does the Fecal Transplant Industry Get its Poop?

How do people learn to cook a poisonous plant safely?

A Town for People with Chronic-Fatigue Syndrome

The People Lost Between Consciousness and Death

Walmart plans to dramatically step back from ammunition sales after 'horrific' shootings (It is also discontinuing handgun sales and asking anybody who isn't a law enforcement agent not to open carry in their stores)

Report: Texting While Walking Isn't The Scourge It's Made Out To Be

The problem of planned obsolescence is getting worse.

The myth of the free speech crisis

FDIC approves Volcker revamp, in latest move to roll back bank rules (Well, I'm sure that's not a disaster waiting to happen.)

Fewer U.S. Households Are Going Hungry. But Cuts In Food Aid Loom

AP-NORC Poll: Most Americans see weather disasters worsening

As the Amazon Burns, Europe Seizes Title of Climate Champion

Who's Burning the Amazon? Rampant Capitalism

Maryland’s Unjust Court Decision on Sexting

Hong Kong braces for weekend protests as leader fails to appease activists

The High School Course Beijing Accuses of Radicalizing Hong Kong

These women survived abuse and assault. Now they’re behind bars. Should they be?

When Solitary Confinement Is A Death Sentence

The Petrochemical Industry Is Killing Another Black Community in ‘Cancer Alley’

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I am eyeing the insights in the "cook a poisonous plant safely" article, and I am eyeing stuff like kaberett's "{faith is both a prison and an open hand}", and the observation that the first thing baby animals learn to do is consistently their species' most vital survival skill and the first thing baby humans learn to do is cry for help, and the Mickey Mouse Copyright Act…

[hudebnik]

I've been wondering about the "poisonous plants" thing for years. A lot of the plants humans have relied on for centuries (e.g. olives) are either non-nutritious, bad-tasting, or seriously poisonous without complicated and very non-obvious processing. If the problem is just tasting bad, I can see the process developing through random (cultural) mutation and gradual natural selection, but for things that are actively toxic, this is hard to believe. If you've only done one step of detoxifying something before eating it, you may be worse off than somebody who didn't eat it at all. If the full detoxifying process is "boil, then grind, then let sit for two days, then form cakes and bake", natural selection would favor the culture that said "don't eat this" over the one that said "boil this before eating it". It's a puzzlement.

[alexseanchai]

I mean, obviously this explanation won't satisfy atheists or monotheists, but continuing with olives as a case in point? Story is Athena gifted humanity the olive tree. I do not recall as story specifically mentions She told us what to do with it, but She is credited with teaching us a lot of technologies—weaving, for instance—so it doesn't make sense that She didn't.

[nodrog]

John Lennon answered that:

“The role of boredom in human affairs is seldom appreciated.”

Consider scrimshaw, or constellations, or 15-bean soup.  You can get to where you’ve thrown every pebble in your hut, sung every song - chewing on funny-looking plants seems like something worth doing…

Veggied

[nodrog]

This is why we need Babylon 5 telepaths in real life.

[A moment late in that series showed what televised SF can do:  A telepath scanning a dying man sees him standing beside his body, while a swirling vortex behind him widens steadily… and he looks at her, a deep, meaningful look, then without a word falls backward into it - gone.  “A piece of us goes with them,” she says.  “Every time.”