Whelp, they just tore the house down, so I suppose that "respect" ran really deep.

If Starfleet command really just considered him a "curiosity" all through the Academy and his early service, I think they would have put a stop to it when he put in to become an officer. When the Doctor asked for command responsibilities on Voyager, the initial response was "pfft no you're a hologram don't be…

I know it's an unpopular and minority opinion, but I hate "Measure of a Man".

Yeah, I was out on the Pacific when a pod of Orca decided to swim right underneath our (smaller than any one of them) motorboat. Even though I knew they weren't trying to hit us, it was the realization that they could easily flip our boat accidentally, combined with "and we're probably too far from land to swim back…

Well, biological people DO have an off switch . . . really, LOTS of them. It's the "back on" switch that's harder to find . . ..

1) Arsenic instead of phosphorous,

Wow. That site design. And the coding . . . do a "View Source" on that site and enjoy the ride . . ..

Somebody in Abu Dhabi loves the classics . . ..

The researchers who analyzed the DNA didn't call it a new species. Dvorsky is the only one making that claim. sakisaki6's skepticism was spot-on.

"It's not because you're bored and trapped in your job, or because you've put on weight, or you've finally reached the unalterable conclusion that you'll never be world famous."

Yeah, THIS is the house from Up. Not that.

This may be the first case of a plant eating another plant's cellulose, but it's hardly unprecedented for a plant to eat another plant.

Yeah like lava kinda slumping down the slope.

We've seen this before...

I've seen it, even if I can't link to it. For example, the insurgence of "bros" into formerly "geek" territory like video games (Halo, Call of Duty) and superhero movie fandom (Avengers). (And "bro," unlike "geek," is absolutely a gendered word.)

Annalee - Thank you for the "make your own" link. My new Saturday project will be finding a "Twinkie pan".

Yes. The rest of your post, and what you've reiterated here, makes perfect sense in the context of "all life is sacred", but doesn't make any sense at all in the context of "all life is equal". Equality (even equal consideration) is an extreme claim. I didn't think I was "taking it" anywhere.

If all life is equal, then you really would have to live as a Jain. Given the choice between the life of two mosquitoes and the life of one human, the two mosquitoes would win. And anyone who killed a bacterium or fly would need to be charged with manslaughter or murder same as if they'd killed another human being.

I've been thinking about living in the wall of my house and chewing on insulation and exposed wires. I really feel like this will be more natural than the over-sterilized, "modern" way of life so many other people have adopted.

"...it may be some time before we reach consensus on what truly constitutes a person..."