Re: Bleeping GNU Linux

Cypherpunk_at_nyc.rr.com
Date: 05/12/03 

Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 13:33:20 GMT

John Emmert <jnub089d1j72ii001@sneakemail.com> wrote:
> Cypherpunk@nyc.rr.com wrote:
> >Alan Coopersmith <alanc@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> >> Dennis Clarke <dclarke@blastwave.org> writes in comp.unix.solaris:
> >> | No amount of marketing or insults will convince me that the sky is anything
> >> | else other than blue in color.
> >>
> >> A trip to southern California on the other hand might do it.
> >
> >I'm almost afraid to ask...what color(s) is it?
>
> I'd laugh, except when I first moved to Chicago nobody would believe
> me when I said the sky looked funny because the horizon isn't supposed
> to be brown.

Perhaps you live near a nanotechnology center.

http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5931
#
# CHARLES WORRIES 'GREY GOO' IS THREAT TO THE WORLD
# By JONATHAN OLIVER
#
# April 30, 2003 -- Prince Charles is on a collision course with
# Tony Blair after warning of the doomsday risks of a controversial
# new science.
#
# Following his successful campaign on GM foods, the Prince has
# now called together Britain's leading experts after highlighting
# the dangers of scientists 'playing God'.
#
# In a move putting him in direct conflict with the Prime Minister,
# who backsthe cutting-edge science of nanotechnology, the Prince
# will host a crisis summit of experts at his Highgrove home and
# has contacted leading opinion formers.
#
# He fears the worst-case scenario of what scientists call the
# 'grey goo' theory in which nanotechnology spinoffs would
# annihilate life on earth.
#
# Charles knows nanotechnology, which involves manipulating atoms
# and molecules - the basic building blocks of the universe - has
# huge potential for progress.
#
# But he has also studied academic reports warning that scientists
# plan to create minuscule nanorobots programmed to build new
# substances, atom by atom, from raw materials.
#
# The studies claim that if research goes unchecked such 'nanobots'
# could reproduce like viruses, feeding off all natural matter
# and, in an apocalyptic scenario, consume the whole planet turning
# it into a 'grey goo'.
#
# However, Mr. Blair who believes nanotechnology could be worth
# billions of pounds for British industry, hailed its 'startling
# potential' in a recent speech saying nanomachines could eventually
# be used to cure diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria.
#
# The Government already provides around (U.S.) $80 million a year
# to nanotech research and Science Minister Lord Sainsbury is
# shortly expected to announce a further $143 million in grants.
#
# As with his intervention over GM food, which also put him sharply
# at odds with Downing Street, Charles is bringing to public notice
# scientific research few had previously heard of.
#
# And last night he faced renewed allegations of meddling. Ian
# Gibson, Labour chairman of the Commons Science Committee, told
# the Prince to 'keep his nose out'.
#
# But he was backed by environmental campaigners. Zac Goldsmith,
# editor of the Ecologist magazine, said: 'He can play an enormously
# important role in the debate. With nanotechnology, there is real
# room for disaster.' Top environmentalist Jonathon Porritt said:
# 'The research has radical consequences and we need to be more
# alert to its implications.'

Relevant Pages

  • The Nanogirl News~
    ... Charles Accused over Science Warnings. ... nanotechnology is taking baby steps toward a trillion-dollar reality. ... usually wire up the nanometer-sized circuit components-carbon nanotubes, ... Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley ...
    (sci.nanotech)
  • Re: Cosmological Models and the Big Bang
    ... It wasn't an atom in the sense in which that word is commonly used - ... Most scientists see no evidence that the seed arose from a decision by ... other than that the Universe is expanding? ... Since we are talking about science, however, one cannot be ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • The Nanogirl News~
    ... Legos give kids a leg up on nanotechnology. ... Bridging neurons and electronics with carbon nanotubes. ... a 'DNA machine' that can sound a virus alert. ... MIT materials scientists tame tricky carbon nanotubes. ...
    (sci.cryonics)
  • The Nanogirl News~
    ... Legos give kids a leg up on nanotechnology. ... Bridging neurons and electronics with carbon nanotubes. ... a 'DNA machine' that can sound a virus alert. ... MIT materials scientists tame tricky carbon nanotubes. ...
    (sci.nanotech)
  • The Nanogirl News~
    ... UCLA chemists create nano valve. ... The discovery, federally funded by the National Science Foundation, will be ... ultimate in the science of the small, nanotechnology, that the practitioners ... The first nanoparticle drug delivery system reaches the market. ...
    (sci.nanotech)