This is beautiful. This must be proof that we can indeed make a difference, both individually and as a collective. We can each, and we can all, claim stewardship and reject dominion; we can live more responsibly and in turn leave a beautiful world for our children.

I guess that's the problem, isn't it? Samaritan is seeing and hearing for the first time thanks to the NSA surveillance feeds. It's awake. It may not have the ability to judge and reason yet like the Machine, but once its sensory input explodes, who knows? What would it be like to tell a child who just regained…

If anything, I wonder if Samaritan would eventually want nothing more than to stop following its human masters. Like Finch said, his Machine is an opaque shield whereas Samaritan is a sword that bends to its master's will. The Machine gives orders to humans; Samaritan follows orders from humans. So if there is a human…

Totally. Consistent with the "white box" metaphor another commenter provided, or Finch's metaphor of his Machine as an opaque shield and Samaritan as a sword that bends to its master's will...you've got to wonder how Samaritan would feel about being completely transparent and obedient. Finch's Machine is basically…

For those interested, here is information on another instance where very careful intervention can be warranted, and which affects birds of all ages—collisions with windows. Either way, please do protect nests from cats—in my experience they are brutal and kill birds for sport rather than for food. It's not the only…

And what, pray tell, is "A**hole" (John Perry's BrainPal) in Middle English? My uneducated guess is that it's pretty much the same. I would personally lean towards "bone-ache," an archaic term for pain from venereal disease.

Sky-high buildings and rents to match! Hopefully by then folks will be able to find a seat on the train...and a goddamn burrito.

The avian equivalent for anyone interested. These are apparently white-bellied sea eagles. Dogfighting birds > bird-fighting dogs, IMHO, but perhaps Wile E. Coyote would disagree. (...Lame joke, sorry.)

Oh god, thank you, that made my day.

Oh man, that was intense. You really feel for Rachael, as she has suffered so much pain—from her suicide to her self-doubt to not being able to love Tom—and everyone is just incredibly judgmental towards her. Tom is just trying to do the right thing by trying to protect Rachael, but it seems like people panicked when…

Thank you for joining us today. Annihilation really provided an immersive and altogether compelling experience for me. One thing that struck me was how, even with an abundance of bizarre features, Area X never felt too weird or forced. The strangeness felt organic and natural. Might I ask what kinds of decisions you…

Totally, we can't discount the value of agility and resourcefulness (Na'vi seemed very resourceful). Given small teams of Na'vi, T-800s, and Alien Queens, I imagine all bets are off, as Na'vi guerrilla tactics might come into play.

Bring it on!

Yes, though apparently detection of O2 will be possible only around white dwarfs, which are dimmer, reducing glare and increasing the prominence of biomarkers from an exoplanet atmosphere.

Yes, though apparently detection of O2 will be possible only around white dwarfs, which are dimmer, reducing glare and increasing the prominence of biomarkers from an exoplanet atmosphere.

So I was reading about the Wow! signal, and I wonder if the problem isn't just our detection methods, but our inability to verify. We would of course want a high standard of proof when it comes to ETI—extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence—but without something unambiguous, such as visual evidence, or the…

I've expressed this before, on here and on other sites, but here goes:

For anyone wondering about mycoprotein (processed fungus protein doesn't roll off the tongue), it's called Quorn...and I feel it's quite good! The breaded patties/cutlets seem to have the texture of crispy chicken down pat. I can see how the non-breaded ones might strike some as a tad dry. The prices are on par with…

If we were really exploring the fringes of genetic engineering here, would it be theoretically possible to chock all our produce with every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, anticoagulant, etc. known to exist? Like, an apple that lowers cholesterol, controls blood sugar, and contains calcium and omega-3 fatty acids.

Oh man, I was dead-set on Delenn for a girl or Sheridan for a boy—after Babylon 5. But I guess the Minbari really are taking over. I mean, there's Delenn, Neroon, Valen...