17 Comments
User's avatar
bobbert's avatar

I've been immunized by whoever referred to the Large Hairdo Collider way back when.

bobbert's avatar

That's some Codex, that Apocalypse Codex.

bobbert's avatar

Crude oil: It's a food product, essentially.

The Quirk's avatar

Tom better watch his ass now.

The Quirk's avatar

But four out of ten only leaves two!

fuflans's avatar

thank god the rolling stones are playing right now.

bobbert's avatar

Scott Adams meets H.P. Lovecraft and Len Deighton (stealing from Charlie himself).

Have you read other Stross? It's pretty much all good. <i>Accelerando</i> is a nice introduction to his "futurist" style, although lacking tentacles. Does have crustaceans, though.

Monsieur_Grumpe's avatar

My only question about life on other planets is are they good eating or are they good at eating us?

Bezoar's avatar

Good response, but it outlines the traditional paradigm which depends on space being an impermeable barrier to the transmission of life. Evidence to think that space prevents the dissemination of life has largely been refuted; in fact, it may be more correct to think that space, the interplanetary, interstellar, possibly even the intergalactic void, facilitate the dissemination of life. There is much peer-reviewed literature to support this notion, which the Cosmic Ancestry website is doing a good job of keeping currently cataloged. Of course, you're right to observe that the possible seeding of Earth with developed organisms early in its history doesn't address the question of biogenesis. That remains a fascinating conundrum, and the RNA world hypothesis is a good candidate explanation (maybe).

PS - Isn't it hard to dismiss the accumulating evidence from meteorites, especially the recent Polonorruwa findings?

𝔅𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔷𝔢𝔟𝔲𝔟𝔟𝔞's avatar

I see the NewsHax jagoffs are still peddling their economic armageddon bullshit. Must be a tough sell with the stock market at an all time high, and unemployment dropping to the lowest point since Dumbya packed up and went home.

𝔅𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔷𝔢𝔟𝔲𝔟𝔟𝔞's avatar

It's easier to explore Uranus when it's tilted at an angle like that.

Fartknocker's avatar

4 out of 10 Americans don't like math: <a href="https://twitter.com/Science..." target="_blank">" rel="nofollow noopener" title="https://twitter.com/SciencePunk/status/3099714716...">https://twitter.com/Science...

Bezoar's avatar

All the cool kids are now hip to the Cosmic Ancestry hypothesis, as it neatly accounts for the observed antiquity of life on Earth, and now comes with actual scientific evidence! <a href="http://www.panspermia.org/w..." target="_blank">" rel="nofollow noopener" title="http://www.panspermia.org/whatsnew72.htm">http://www.panspermia.org/w...

Bezoar's avatar

Q: How do you hide something from a surgeon? A: Put it in a book.