Scientists Planning to Make New Form of Life (Washington Post)
Scientists in Rockville are to announce this morning that they plan to create a new form of life in a laboratory dish, a project that raises ethical and safety issues but also promises to illuminate the fundamental mechanics of living organisms.
To ensure safety, Smith and Venter said the cell will be deliberately hobbled to render it incapable of infecting people; it also will be strictly confined, and designed to die if it does manage to escape into the environment.
More worrisome than the risk of escape, they acknowledged, is that the project could lay the scientific groundwork for a new generation of biological weapons, a risk that may force them to be selective about publishing technical details. But they said the project could also help advance the nation's ability to detect and counter existing biological weapons.[...]
Let the slide down the slippery slope begin!
Black-White Harmony: Are You Kidding Me? (NY Times)
I've actually wanted to write about blackpeopleloveus.com for awhile. Thanks to Vic for pointing out the site to me initially. It's definitely meant to be funny, but works in really subtle ways to tackle a real interesting issue. As an Asian American, I've definitely experienced some of this, and I'm probably guilty of such behavior as well. The key point here is that there is more to American race relations than the more obvious issues like affirmative action and civil rights.
Now onto more important matters:
I've never had a "Turducken" before, but I'm convinced that I have to have one. Hmm...how am I gonna get one of those in Shanghai...?
