-Caveat Lector-
SkeptiNews 990925b - - - - - - - - - - - All The News That's Fit To Question
: Passages starting with ':' are editorial comments to provoke discussion.
: Nothing contained herein is ever endorsed for truth, accuracy or meaning.
: No effete Eastern elites equivocated during production of this bulletin.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
$ Urban Decay Makeup: http://www.urbandecay.com/
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
# Alien Earths. OUR FIRST GLIMPSES of Earthly worlds beyond the Solar System
may be coming into focus, say two teams of astronomers. Independently they
have found two promising candidates for low-mass planets that could play
host to life. http://www.newscientist.com:80/ns/19990925/newsstory8.html
: What's your favorite low-mass planet? How much life can you take? How much
effort would residents of other low-mass planets expend to take ours away??
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
# Y2K: Buckle Up - What To Do If Lights Go Out. Don't worry about looters,
electric failures, or martial law. Nope, it's those darned traffic lights
that might just bring society to its knees on 1 January 2000. Darkness,
darkness: http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/21948.html
: Do you look forward to the fall of civilization? Will it come 1/1/2000 or
must we wait longer? Are you impatient? Will you sabotage traffic lights??
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
# SCI-BUY. Industry funding fuels perception of science for sale -
Dilemma growing over how to sort science from self-interest.
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/scitech/docs/sciforsale21.htm
# Perils of Ideological 'Science'. Scientific theories have statements that
can be used to confirm & predict natural phenomena. To date, evolution has
done both; creationism has done neither. We need to learn from the Soviet
experience of Lysenkoism the dangers of applying ideology to science.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-09/25/015l-092599-idx.html
: Is any science pure? Are you? Is any science for sale? Are you? Is science
corrupt? Are you? Is perception of corruption more damaging than reality??
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
# Spirits in the Silicon World - MIT theologian looks to smart robots for
insight into religious questions. For thousands of years, mythical robots
have been used to explore the question of what makes humans human. In the
Middle Ages, Jewish cabalists spun myths about golems, clay creatures
animated by the secret name of God. The ancient Greeks sought to create a
homunculus, a tiny proto-person servant. More recently, Mary Shelley's
"Frankenstein" creature and the android "Star Trek" crew member Commander
Data have raised the question: "Can man-made creatures have souls?" Anne
Foerst's job is to ask that question, but not about mythical creatures. As
resident theologian at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, Foerst has spent the past 4 years pon-
dering how increasingly smart machines may affect our sense of humanity.
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/seven-days/1/living/docs/034386.htm
: Do you have a 'soul'? How can we tell? Are you robotic? Is a sufficiently
complex robot theologically indistinguishable from a human? Are some humans
robotic? Must robots evolve souls, just like humans? Is 'soul' a gift? Why?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
# Very early musical links - Chinese flutes are 9,000 years old. (Newsday)
They won't be tooting music from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" on them any
time soon, but Chinese researchers have found what might be the oldest
playable musical instruments on Earth. Made from wing bones of red-crowned
cranes: http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/world/docs/flutes23.htm
: What animals would you like to kill to make musical instruments? Would you
dry & hollow-out a snake to use as a dijiridu? Would you turn blowfish into
rattles? What would you kill to make guitars, saxophones, tubas, xylophones?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NASA-Rama:
# NASA Abandons Search For Orbiter. With the Mars Climate Orbiter almost
certainly destroyed, NASA is calling off the radio search for its where-
abouts. http://www.space.com/news/planetarymissions/mars_mission.html
# Safeguarding the Next Mars Probe. The loss of the latest Mars probe
won't affect its sibling mission already en route to the red planet.
But will NASA scientists ever get over the loss? Don't cry for me,
Canaveral: http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/21947.html
# NASA Chief to Space Business: Loss of Orbiter Illustrates Risk:
http://www.space.com/news/goldin_990924.html
# 'Privatize NASA Now'. A space exec sez the govt should divest part of
its operation to business so NASA can concentrate on the outer limits:
http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21955.html
# Congress to NASA -- 'Safety is Good, But What Does It Cost?'
http://www.space.com/news/spaceshuttle/shuttle_hearing_990923.html
# One Giant Step for Imaging. It was do-or-die for Space Imaging's
Ikonos II, and the launching of the commercial high-res imaging
satellite was a definite do on Friday morning. Here's looking at
you, kid: http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21953.html
# Columbia Leaves for California. Shuttle Columbia took off Friday, but the
veteran spaceship wasn't heading into orbit. Rather, NASA's oldest orbiter
hitched a piggyback ride on top of a Boeing 747 jet & flew to California.
Surfing: http://space.com/news/spaceshuttle/columbia_leaves_990924.html
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SkeptiLinks:
@ World History: http://www.angelfire.com/fl/cubabrains/spain1878.html
@ Flight Tracking: http://www.thetrip.com/usertools/flighttracking/
@ Dysfunctional Family Circus: http://www.spinnwebe.com/dfc/
@ The Museum of Dead, Gone, and Obsolete Computers:
http://www.computingmuseum.com/site/cadre_start.htm
# Team developing new ways to handle data deluge - rotsa ruck:
http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/jhun-tdn092499.html
# Popular takes on genetics are full of snares and stereotypes:
http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990925/missionary.html
# Study: Cancer Gene Controls Immune System:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/092499/z-immune_gene.sml
@ _Scientific UFOlogy_ is a triumphant overview of research methods, the
nature of UFO evidence (or its lack) and related matters of interest
to investigators. http://www.space.com/area51/kevin_randle_990923.html
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Sometimes when Ronnie and Nancy were at home, alone in their big white
house and about to climb underneath the covers, they liked to pretend
that they were a bologna sandwich, Ronnie being the slice of bologna
and Nancy being the cheese and the pillows and sheets and blankets
being the lettuce and mustard and bread, which always made them
feel snuggly and 'comfy,' but most of the time they didn't think
about it all that much." --James E. Williams
* http://skepticon.da.ru (updated) * ICQ# 19633976 * FAX: 603-415-3736
* email INFO or SUBSCRIBE SKEPTICHAT to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* (sorry, I can't answer all email - but thanks for your feedback)
* SkeptiChat/SkeptiNews archives: http://skeptifiles.da.ru (belated)
* Fringe * Science * Faith * Sex/Drugs * UFO/PSI/Y2K * Conspiracy *
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
