Speaking of bats...

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/01/15/not-very-long-read-no-time-for-bats-to-rest-easy/

Quoting the NY Times:

Scientists have also learned that bats live a seriously long time for creatures of their small size. The insectivorous Brandt’s bat of Eurasia, for example, weighs an average of just six grams, compared with 20 grams for a mouse. But while a mouse is lucky to live for a year, the Brandt’s bat can survive well into its 40s — a disparity between life span and body mass that a report in Nature Communications called “the most extreme” of all mammals…

Bat experts argue that a keener understanding of bat biology could not only help prevent the next outbreak of Ebola or other cross-species “zoonotic” infection, but also offer a fresh take on immune and inflammatory disorders like diabetes or heart disease…

Neat stuff.

Cheers,
Scott.

[Tis the 'Health' forum, guess that includes overall mental-health too: Help extend liff.. is healthy overall?]

It's the only decent thing to do, we see. Much less messy than .. you know.. taking that International Number tattooed on wrist + self to the Dis-Integration Chamber. (Star Trek, IIRC.)
(Or the New! New! Fast-food might produce mild symptoms, no pain and euphoria ... as permits unhurried settling of one's affairs (amidst some satisfiction that making room for the new tots is indeed, doing Good.)

Macabre? How about Soylent Yellow, then? Or decrease fertility, maybe with perks for volunteers? (Works when charities offer gifts when you donate, despite the illogic in that..)
aka: Would a planet-wide plebiscite choose [???] 10-billion+ living in large phone booths (for the more affluent) on efficient ersatz-food-likes (of composition™©) via the Mega-Corporatocracy needed for 'efficient' distribution -vs- all the promised futchah techno comforts and choices: for a decently fed, sustainable head count? Bet there's damn little data for THIS Question, to-date; we don't want to Think about any of it, as in La La La La.

Premature? Yah it always Is. But we'll get to that.. only likely too late to make any thoughtful, sane transition; it will be under duress via police making current trigger-happy variants the main Corps.
Agree-in-advance: the mere idea shall remain Scary-Controversial ... to every adult who has no concept of exponential growth and no imagination of cascading scarcity amidst mobs raised from birth on the drug of expected (and guaranteed) comfort.
(Sometimes I wish I were still unclear about exponentials. Like the occasional-voting majority) Oh well.

Back to topic: selecting the link, ostensibly for pics of cute bats.. this + puppies came up. Gotta love the summary: (Pity.. can't move this to the proper Forum automagically)

Sunday Evening Open Thread: Well, It Was Nice While It Lasted
Posted by Anne Laurie at 6:44 pm Jan 18 2015

Via Dave Weigel’s twitter feed, Bill “Reliably Wrong” Kristol has anointed Dr. Ben Carson as his new cover idol, so it is now guaranteed that the poor man will never get closer to the Oval Office than the guided tour. Kristol assigned Fred Barnes to write up a long beat-sweetener that ends:

… If nominated, can Carson beat Hillary Clinton or another Democrat? Yes he can. Giles thinks Carson can win 25 percent to 40 percent of the black vote. Williams is doubtful. But Robinson, the draft-Ben leader, says he has “run the numbers” and found that Carson would easily win with 17 percent of the black vote in swing states. “At 17 percent, Hillary loses every swing state in the union, and the Roosevelt coalition is effectively destroyed.” That’s an outcome worth thinking about.

So — remembering it was Kristol who first introduced the national Republican Party to a certain firebrand he met while cruising near Wasilla — it looks like Dr. Carson is officially the new Sarah Palin, a comparison that has to be infuriating to both Carson and Palin. And pretty well confirms my theory that the “Tea Patriots” hope to use Carson as a stalking horse to pull the “centrist RINO squishes” of the permanent-party GOP closer to their end of the very-far-right spectrum.

OK maybe all three issues--bats, babies and bat-shit Crazies--blong in >>> Oh Pun ... it's late.

Post #398,222 by Another Scott 1/18/15 10:23:51 PM Reply	Speaking of bats... http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/01/15/not-very-long-read-no-time-for-bats-to-rest-easy/ Quoting the NY Times: Scientists have also learned that bats live a seriously long time for creatures of their small size. The insectivorous Brandt’s bat of Eurasia, for example, weighs an average of just six grams, compared with 20 grams for a mouse. But while a mouse is lucky to live for a year, the Brandt’s bat can survive well into its 40s — a disparity between life span and body mass that a report in Nature Communications called “the most extreme” of all mammals… Bat experts argue that a keener understanding of bat biology could not only help prevent the next outbreak of Ebola or other cross-species “zoonotic” infection, but also offer a fresh take on immune and inflammatory disorders like diabetes or heart disease… Neat stuff. Cheers, Scott.
Post #398,229 by Ashton 1/19/15 7:42:04 AM Reply	Naturally, we must stifle such research. Naturally. [Tis the 'Health' forum, guess that includes overall mental-health too: Help extend liff.. is healthy overall?] It's the only decent thing to do, we see. Much less messy than .. you know.. taking that International Number tattooed on wrist + self to the Dis-Integration Chamber. (Star Trek, IIRC.) (Or the New! New! Fast-food might produce mild symptoms, no pain and euphoria ... as permits unhurried settling of one's affairs (amidst some satisfiction that making room for the new tots is indeed, doing Good.) Macabre? How about Soylent Yellow, then? Or decrease fertility, maybe with perks for volunteers? (Works when charities offer gifts when you donate, despite the illogic in that..) aka: Would a planet-wide plebiscite choose [???] 10-billion+ living in large phone booths (for the more affluent) on efficient ersatz-food-likes (of composition™©) via the Mega-Corporatocracy needed for 'efficient' distribution -vs- all the promised futchah techno comforts and choices: for a decently fed, sustainable head count? Bet there's damn little data for THIS Question, to-date; we don't want to Think about any of it, as in La La La La. Premature? Yah it always Is. But we'll get to that.. only likely too late to make any thoughtful, sane transition; it will be under duress via police making current trigger-happy variants the main Corps. Agree-in-advance: the mere idea shall remain Scary-Controversial ... to every adult who has no concept of exponential growth and no imagination of cascading scarcity amidst mobs raised from birth on the drug of expected (and guaranteed) comfort. (Sometimes I wish I were still unclear about exponentials. Like the occasional-voting majority) Oh well. Back to topic: selecting the link, ostensibly for pics of cute bats.. this + puppies came up. Gotta love the summary: (Pity.. can't move this to the proper Forum automagically) Sunday Evening Open Thread: Well, It Was Nice While It Lasted Posted by Anne Laurie at 6:44 pm Jan 18 2015 Via Dave Weigel’s twitter feed, Bill “Reliably Wrong” Kristol has anointed Dr. Ben Carson as his new cover idol, so it is now guaranteed that the poor man will never get closer to the Oval Office than the guided tour. Kristol assigned Fred Barnes to write up a long beat-sweetener that ends: … If nominated, can Carson beat Hillary Clinton or another Democrat? Yes he can. Giles thinks Carson can win 25 percent to 40 percent of the black vote. Williams is doubtful. But Robinson, the draft-Ben leader, says he has “run the numbers” and found that Carson would easily win with 17 percent of the black vote in swing states. “At 17 percent, Hillary loses every swing state in the union, and the Roosevelt coalition is effectively destroyed.” That’s an outcome worth thinking about. So — remembering it was Kristol who first introduced the national Republican Party to a certain firebrand he met while cruising near Wasilla — it looks like Dr. Carson is officially the new Sarah Palin, a comparison that has to be infuriating to both Carson and Palin. And pretty well confirms my theory that the “Tea Patriots” hope to use Carson as a stalking horse to pull the “centrist RINO squishes” of the permanent-party GOP closer to their end of the very-far-right spectrum. OK maybe all three issues--bats, babies and bat-shit Crazies--blong in >>> Oh Pun ... it's late.
Post #418,045 by CRConrad 5/7/17 5:19:16 PM 5/7/17 5:19:16 PM Reply	Well, seems she was mostly right, but still a little wrong. As a Cabinet Secretary, he'll presumably be invited into the office without having to take the public tour. -- Christian R. Conrad Same old username (as above), but now on iki.fi (Yeah, yeah, it redirects to the same old GMail... But just in case I ever want to change.)

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