I respectfully disagree. Fine-scale genetic modification like this has the delicacy to potentially fix complex conditions on sensitive organs like arrhythmia without surgery or clunky interfaces between biology and circuitry, which is always going to be more medically-sound than trying to excise and replace tissues or…

I doubt that. China's got a looming property bubble that makes the 2008 crisis look like nothing and an exports market that is only held together by sheer force of will on the part of the Chinese government. And that's not even taking into account the demographic brick wall that they're staring down over the next 50…

Point out where I said that human sacrifice was a good thing.

The Romans and Carthaginians practised human sacrifice too, and yet we tend not to frown upon them nearly as much.

It's especially hard when you're dealing with a subject like lions. I mean, anyone can twist a research article on autism in mice (or something) and turn it into 'researchers cure autism in mouse' and easy advertising cash. That's easy. Turning lion genetics into click-bait? Now that takes real skill.

Something about the CGI in this is seriously rubbing me the wrong way. I don't know if it's the style, which is a bit more stylized/unrealistic than BSG was, or the sheer, overwhelming volume of it that's doing it, but either way - I really don't like it. It's crossed over the bridge from CGI-enhanced realism to…

Tractor beams are not limited to Star Trek. They in fact predate the phaser by almost 40 years, and have been used in the Honor Harrington and Lensman series, Buck Rogers, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Archie comics (Yes, really) and even has its own TVTropes trope page. If you really can't tell the difference, I question…

Yeah! Ancient history university course powers activate!

Depending on when one wants to split Yahweh out of the Canaanite/Edomite pantheon (Which is difficult to determine precisely given how long Hebrew polytheism [or at the very least henotheism] managed to linger), he's about 3500 years old, give-or-take. There are gods like Inanna out of Mesopotamia that are 5000-6000…

Is anyone else getting a FemShep vibe from the female space marine? (Who I've just googled and is apparently called Sergeant Calhoun)

"I wasn't the first one to reply to this article. I believe my comment appears near the top because I have the most replies, not because I got in first. "

If you're going to spoil the death of a major character in that series, for god's sake put it in a reply! Seriously, putting 'SPOILERS BELOW' or something when you can see the spoiler clear as day whilst still looking at the bloody 'SPOILERS BELOW' is not helpful at all.

Why would he want to put himself out of a job?

"I like how you think of Christopher Columbus as a "good guy" ;p."

"They've never done anything quite as drastic as killing Washington would be in these stories, and they wouldn't. They twist historical events to fit the narrative, much like other popular culture stories have done (Da Vinci Code immediately springs to mind), but they're not going to suddenly have aliens invade…

"Julius Caesar is a villain now? Hmmm, I don't know if I agree, although I suppose that's just subjective interpretation. "

Oh, I wasn't suggesting that it be a part of the plot, just as a convenient example as to how certain quarters would view the game if it depicted their chosen political idols as villains or as anything less than the image they want to see.

"Weren't the Founding Fathers revealed to be Templars in AC 2? I could have sworn they were."

'Following the history books'? This is a universe where Julius Caesar was a member of an ancient cabal of villains that seek to exploit alien technology For The Evulz, after all. Historical accuracy plays second to the plot of the games.

Should we seek to minimize *unnecessary* pain and/or suffering? Absolutely. That's been one of the goals of medicine since day one, after all. But pain in and of itself is as much part of our sensory experience as eyesight or smell, and losing it, in my mind, would very much be a detriment to the human experience.