You could argue that the 'unconscious' parts of the human brain are as much a part of 'us' as our conscious awareness: if you believe that 'unconscious decision-making' negates the idea of free will, that's because you're looking at part of the system rather than the system as a whole (I think a related error lies…

Thanks. I was wondering about that.

I think that if you care enough to try to nuke a volcano, that probably means that the volcano is in close proximity to something you don't want damaged, such as a large town. Empirical studies have shown that nearby nuclear explosions aren't terribly good for towns or the people who live there, and can have a…

Tithonus nods in agreement.

What's good for your genes isn't necessarily good for you as an individual. Put another way: "Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking genotype."

I'm not sure whether to ask for four minutes of my life back, or twenty-five per cent of my sanity.

The DTs are a bitch. The pink elephants are bad enough, but when you start seeing orange crocodiles, it's really time to quit.

"Won't somebody please think of the children? Be promiscuous!" would make an awesome slogan.

[knowyourmeme.com]

Told like that, it's an interesting story. Yoda as a hidebound and arrogant authoritarian, Obi-Wan as the Jedi Council's reluctant executioner, Palpatine as Satan/Mephistopheles tempting Anakin to rebel against "God", Anakin as a doomed rebel seeking a middle path - that's the stuff of tragedy. And then that throws up…

Proposal: neutrinos are not actually particles originating from the sun, but pieces of alien spaceships moving at FTL speed.

Many commentators on this story have applied the label "bisexual" to this behavior, and it might be a perfectly correct description, depending on your definition (and in your post you do an excellent job of explaining the issues with applying such a label in this case). My own feeling is that to be "bisexual" or…

I'm not sure how meaningful it is to describe these squid as 'bisexual'. They basically stick a spermatophore in anything that looks vaguely squid-shaped, on the off chance that it might be a female. (I have a vague memory of being once told by a squid scientist that they'd even discovered squid with their _own_…

Well, the character claims that she's killing people with her C-VOWEL-CONSONANT-T, but, frankly, she seems a little agitated, so she may not be the most reliable witness. We definitely shouldn't rule out the possibility that she kills with her C-CONSONANT-VOWEL-T.

I saw "Liquid Sky" at a matinee. After two hours of the lead actress having fake sex and periodically shrieking "I kill with my c**t! I kill with my c**t!", the lights came up and I saw that the rest of the audience was entirely composed of little old ladies. It was winter, and my best guess is that it was cheaper for…

"So what's my motivation, George? The Jedi Council think I'm a dweeb? And Obi-Wan doesn't respect me? Oh, and I have vague worrying premonitions that a civilization that has faster-than-light travel, clone armies and floating cities can't keep my girlfriend alive during childbirth? Right-oh, that sounds like the kind…

Alejandro Jodorowsky's "Dune", from designs by Moebius: [www.duneinfo.com]

That's an interesting idea, but on the evidence I'd tend to disagree. In my nerdy youth - which predated Warhammer 40K - I had a modest collection of miniatures, many of which were quite finely detailed. Some were even by Citadel Miniatures, who went on to make the Warhammer figures for Games Workshop.

I asked, and I am answered. Thank you all.