oldcynic

oldcynic's Journal

April 22, 2017

Question...it has been said we live in a world that is safer than ever (for humans)...

...and I just doubt it. (the bomb, Trump, Le Pen, Brexit, National Rifle Ass, militarized police,etc. Let's just say this does not include species suicide). But I have no facts. Just feelings, guesstimates, anecdotes, so I'm calling on DU's collective brain to answer.

1. Are individual crimes against other individuals greater or lesser overall than in the past?

My guess is that the rate of individual crimes remains the same but increases proportional to population growth. The past means all the way back...to when our cousins roamed earth with us, when we were all still in Africa right through to yesterday.

2. Has the rate of state crimes (wars, executions, torture, displacement, etc) decreased or remained the same per population growth?

I'm using "state" as shorthand for any organizational activity: Viking invasions, one petty warlord raiding the next village, killing off Neanderthals, etc.

No alternative facts, please.

April 21, 2017

I don't do banks

Can I have a friend send you a check in my name? Sorry to be difficult....no I'm not. Thanks.

April 20, 2017

The Orange Hairball was puked up by Ronald Reagan

Remember the flood of Central American children that got Twitler so upset? Now he has suddenly discovered the MS-13 threat:a Central American gang that has been around for many years. How does Reagan come into this? He oversaw the destruction of Central American governments. Those children were Reagan Refugees and this gang is composed of Reagan Recruits.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39645640

Ever notice when Republicans hold power America is sinking under terrible drug and gang problems but when Democrats hold power America doesn't suffer from such paranoia and even tries to help the afflicted?

April 18, 2017

how civilization will collapse

...collapses have occurred many times in human history, and no civilization, no matter how seemingly great, is immune to the vulnerabilities that may lead a society to its end. Regardless of how well things are going in the present moment, the situation can always change. Putting aside species-ending events like an asteroid strike, nuclear winter or deadly pandemic, history tells us that it’s usually a plethora of factors that contribute to collapse. What are they, and which, if any, have already begun to surface? It should come as no surprise that humanity is currently on an unsustainable and uncertain path – but just how close are we to reaching the point of no return?

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170418-how-western-civilisation-could-collapse

April 13, 2017

First DNA, then CRISPR, now looking inside LIVING genes...

The world just changed again. How fast is that!

...developed a way to track genes inside living cells. He can set them aglow and watch them move in three dimensions, allowing him to map their positions much like star charts record the shifting heavens above. And just as the moon influences the tides, the position of genes influences the effects they have; thus, 3D maps of gene locations could lead scientists to a vastly more sophisticated appreciation of how our genes work and interact—and how they affect our health.

April 13, 2017

and orange vomit is cutting funding for birth control here and around the world

Within these impact zones, mammal populations declined on average by 83 percent and bird populations by 58 percent. Additionally, the team found that commercial hunting had a greater impact than hunting for family food, and that hunting pressure was higher in areas with better accessibility to major towns where wild meat could be traded. The impact of hunting was found to be larger than the team expected.

April 13, 2017

Hawking warned alien life might be like us...

and dangerous to our health and well-being. Seems like alien life we are constructing could be equally like us. (One reason why males should NOT build a male sex robot).

...researchers have demonstrated how machines can be reflections of us, their creators, in potentially problematic ways. Common machine learning programs, when trained with ordinary human language available online, can acquire cultural biases embedded in the patterns of wording, the researchers found. These biases range from the morally neutral, like a preference for flowers over insects, to the objectionable views of race and gender.

April 13, 2017

'image' of dark matter

https://phys.org/news/2017-04-capture-image-dark-web-galaxies.html

April 7, 2017

income inequality and carbon emissions...you knew this already

https://phys.org/news/2017-04-money-wealthy-wealthier-carbon-emissions.html

April 7, 2017

here's one for the dogs...

proves the law: if we do they do it, if they do we do it.
https://phys.org/news/2017-04-spy-eye-dogs-perspective-humans.html

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Member since: Wed Feb 15, 2017, 04:40 PM
Number of posts: 385

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