Most searches for alien radio transmissions have focused on finding omni-directional or purposefully earth-directed beams of enduring duration. However, most of the interesting signals so far detected have been transient and non-repeatable in nature. These signals could very well be the first data points in an ever-growing data base of such signals used to construct a probabilistic argument for the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. This paper looks at the effect base rate bias could have on deciding which signals to include in such an archive based upon the likely assumption that our ability to discern natural from artificial signals will be less than perfect.

Conditions are arguably worse for scientific and medical researchers dependent on grants, and Sam Stein explained in great detail last week how the sequester has become "a cancerous tumor inside the world of science." Stein talked to one scientist at the University of Virginia who said, simply, "We are in deep s**t."

The New York Times reports today that five months into sequestration, "much of the United States government is grounded." At this year's National Space Symposium in Colorado, for example, representatives from France, Germany, and China made the trip -- but no one from NASA could be there because the agency couldn't afford to send anyone.

The problem, Antonsen said, was not just how the lack of funding would impact graybeards like himself, but also the newcomers to the field. Young scientists who had spent 12 years studying for their PhDs would find the climate inhospitable, and future generations would look elsewhere.

"We used to be able to tell people that there was some kind of job security," he said. "That would be a compensation for not being paid as much. Now, if you are taking a big risk in investing 12 years of your life to learn how to do the science, people will think twice."

So I posted a thread last night musing why our Rightwing trolls completely ignore the threads we post about their ignorance and crackpottery but swarm any thread remotely praising Obama. Well, below is the answer Jenell Yarbrough-Brinson gave. Something I was totally unaware of but makes a whole lot of sense.

"Because they are using computer bots their Tea party-Pac paid employers provide that scan for 'key' words, terms, and names, like Obama, Obamacare, and hot button issues.

I'm not joking. I worked for a telemarketing outsource company, and while I did not work in the department of that company that provided their clients internet 'trolling' services, they had them. Most commonly are groups of products, companies, the bots would search the internet, consumer websites, and yes, social networks, for key words and terms relating to their clients' (and their competitions') products or services, where ever "comments" features are available, and pop them up on the troll's screen, so they could post some comment, like a positive review for their clients' product, bad one for the competitors, etc. I last worked for that company in 2009, and they had just started really getting into handling politically related clients in quite a few departments. In the department I worked, phones, we were commonly offered the chance to work campaigns, not trolling stuff, but making those annoying phone calls to people to tell them the good stuff about 'our' candidate. I see the mindlessness and repetitiveness of these conservative, Tea-Party right-winger anti Obama anti Democrat trolls, and I've not doubt many if not most are actually paid trolls. That is why you can't get them to engage in actual conversation, they are paid by the posting, and new spots on the web for them to post comments to are constantly popping up on their screens.

Also, one person working that will be sitting there will many different 'identities' up at once, so it can seem a dozen different trolls with different names have hit, when it may be only one, using multiple FB profile accounts."