Links for 01/20/05

Today's links:

Aubrey de Grey Responds (Technology Review)
Biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey gets the chance to respond a Technology Review cover article that was highly critical of him and his efforts to cure aging.

Open-Source Biology Evolves (Wired)
Can a rebel band of scientists pool patented innovation techniques and give them away through the Internet?

Unwrapping the Biometric Present (Technology Review)
Congressional funding for a biometric system to track potential terrorists isn't likely to have much impact on the bad guys. But it will likely help the government keep track of you.

The Future of Lying (BBC)
Some scientists in the US are working on advanced technology that will significantly improve lie detection.

Harper warns of 'radical' marriages (Globe & Mail, registration required)
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper warned Thursday that if same-sex legislation becomes law, the Liberals won't be able to prevent fundamentalist groups from requesting extreme types of marriages such as polygamy. In other words, "let's just stick to our tried-and-true oldtime religion and avoid that heathen foreign crap."

The Supposed Sin of Defying Nature: Part One (Betterhumans)
Why are policy debates still plagued by an irrational idea that refuses to die?

Fatherhood by a New Formula (Washington Post)
Using an egg donor and a gestational surrogate, some gay men are becoming dads -- and charting new legal and ethical territory.

Black Holes, But Not As We Know Them (New Scientist)
They are the most fearsome objects in the Universe, and everyone knows that falling into a black hole spells doom. Or does it? New Scientist shows how cracks are starting to appear in the conventional picture of the dark destroyers.

Collapse: A Seed Exclusive by Jared Diamond (The Seed)
A threat more serious than emerging diseases or nuclear war is on our doorstep: Ecocide. Biosociologist Jared Diamond argues that environmental destruction has triggered a chain reaction that threatens life as we know it.

UN chief warns of 'megadisaster' (BBC)
The UN's disaster chief has outlined a 10-year plan of investment to avert a natural disaster that could be 100 times worse than the Asian tsunami.

A Proactive Response to the Tsunami Disaster (Betterhumans)
A proposed world institute for risk evaluation is a good idea, but let's be clear about what risks need evaluating, writes Nick Bostrom.

Space Cadets (Spiked-Online)
If environmentalists had their way, probes would never have touched down on Titan, writes Joe Kaplinsky in Spiked-Online.

Lords of the Rings (Slate)
William Saletan reveals in Slate how a human presence truly arrived on a moon of Saturn.

Beyond the Biodome (The Space Review)
Biosphere 2, recently put up for sale, was once hailed as a testbed for technologies that could enable space colonization. Dwayne Day examines how the project devolved into fodder for B-grade movies.

Ancient Science of Skin Care Goes High Tech With Nano (Small Times)
More evidence that nanotech is going to change everything.