On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 8:07 PM, Eric Walker <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Jones Beene <[email protected]> wrote: > > ... this bone-headed R&D that Dutch virologists have been doing (also >> reported recently): >> >> >> http://www.vox.com/2014/4/12/5605950/why-did-scientists-just-make-bird-flu-m >> ore-contagious<http://www.vox.com/2014/4/12/5605950/why-did-scientists-just-make-bird-flu-more-contagious> > > > One concern I have is about what bath salts do to the brains of the > users [1]. The users exhibit zombie-like behavior, and when they are less > delirious, they can become violent and extremely difficult to restrain. If > some naive researchers developed a contagious biological agent that had a > similar effect on the brain as bath salts, we would have a genuine zombie > problem. > > Eric > > > [1] > http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2354744/Teen-high-bath-salts-crashes-car-exhibits-Zombie-like-behavior-psychotic-episode.html > > Far worse than such gross symptoms are more subtle symptoms such as diverting glucose from the brain to fat deposits causing an epidemic of stupid obese people. And far more likely is that such a pathogen would already exist in various human ecologies around the world -- some of which have coevolved immunity. It would then be taboo to even suspect the vectors or natural history that might allow science to objectively investigate, discover and provide said immunity with populations not so co-evolved. Group selection is war and war is Hell.
