Real-Life Weirdness

[Johan Larson]

The CIA is hiring.

https://www.cia.gov/careers/opportunities/cia-jobs

Wow. There must be a hundred jobs there.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by johndallman

That looks like an ordinary English dry-stone wall in these photos. Farmers and shepherds in Northern England have built them routinely for centuries to mark the boundaries between fields. Emigrants from England would likely build them if there were suitable stones around, and would not regard them as interesting, or bother keeping records about them.

How much of that is for boundaries and how much just to have something to do with all the rocks you are clearing out of field? Something that doesn't require transporting them long distances and takes as small an area as feasible.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

How much of that is for boundaries and how much just to have something to do with all the rocks you are clearing out of field? Something that doesn't require transporting them long distances and takes as small an area as feasible.

Traditionally a bit of both. The main purpose was to act as boundary markers or prevent stock from straying but it would certainly have been a convenient use of stone coming off the fields.

[Johan Larson]

Originally Posted by johndallman

That looks like an ordinary English dry-stone wall in these photos. Farmers and shepherds in Northern England have built them routinely for centuries to mark the boundaries between fields. Emigrants from England would likely build them if there were suitable stones around, and would not regard them as interesting, or bother keeping records about them.

This old story again. It's hard to follow two links on the internet without running into someone pushing these tall tales about the "Englishmen" and their marvelous accomplishments. Fought the French, they say. And the Germans. Invented the steam engine. And electricity. If that were true, you'd think they would be pretty easy to find these masters of the earth. But whenever someone puts one on display, it's obviously an American or some poor Aussie in funny clothes.

Occam's Razor tells us to accept the least contrived explanation that fits the facts. And there is no reason to resort to a mythical race of men to explain plain stone walls when the obvious solution is staring us right in the face. It was the aliens.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Johan Larson

This old story again. It's hard to follow two links on the internet without running into someone pushing these tall tales about the "Englishmen" and their marvelous accomplishments. Fought the French, they say. And the Germans. Invented the steam engine. And electricity. If that were true, you'd think they would be pretty easy to find these masters of the earth. But whenever someone puts one on display, it's obviously an American or some poor Aussie in funny clothes.

Occam's Razor tells us to accept the least contrived explanation that fits the facts. And there is no reason to resort to a mythical race of men to explain plain stone walls when the obvious solution is staring us right in the face. It was the aliens.

Wonderful sarcasm, but it makes for a nice alternate reality like those where humans are mythical monsters told to vampire children to make them go to bed before sunrise.

[sjard]

<Moderator>
The discussion of adult films is not appropriate for these boards, please take the subject elsewhere.
</Moderator>

[ericthered]

It appears HeLa cells have not been mentioned yet. Let me rectify this.

Henrietta Lacks was a poor african american tobacca farmer in virginia who died from cancer. Before her death, her cancer cells were harvested for research (in the days before both civil rights AND informed consent), and have proved to be immortal. Most cancer cultures will eventually die, but not Hela cells!

Also, Yesterday was her birthday.

Her cells have made it into all sorts of places, and been spectacularly mislabeled

Hela turned out to be the source of 24 acedemically recognized independent strains in the US, and when Russia shared their own 'immortal' cells with the US, (supposedly from russia), all 6 strains turned out to be from one Henrietta Lacks.

Biomass estimates on the order of magnitude of 100 empire state buildings...

Hela's greatest contributions are in the study of Viruses, and the cells were pivotal in creating both the Polio and the HPV Vaccine, and that's just the big notables so far.

In a world where the supernatural is a thing ... lots of possibilities. Psi. Magic. Souls. Or perhaps HeLa isn't from Henerietta at all...

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by ericthered

when Russia shared their own 'immortal' cells with the US, (supposedly from russia), all 6 strains turned out to be from one Henrietta Lacks.

There can be only one.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by ericthered

It appears HeLa cells have not been mentioned yet. Let me rectify this.

Henrietta Lacks was a poor african american tobacca farmer in virginia who died from cancer. Before her death, her cancer cells were harvested for research (in the days before both civil rights AND informed consent), and have proved to be immortal. Most cancer cultures will eventually die, but not Hela cells!

Also, Yesterday was her birthday.

Her cells have made it into all sorts of places, and been spectacularly mislabeled

Hela turned out to be the source of 24 acedemically recognized independent strains in the US, and when Russia shared their own 'immortal' cells with the US, (supposedly from russia), all 6 strains turned out to be from one Henrietta Lacks.

Biomass estimates on the order of magnitude of 100 empire state buildings...

Hela's greatest contributions are in the study of Viruses, and the cells were pivotal in creating both the Polio and the HPV Vaccine, and that's just the big notables so far.

In a world where the supernatural is a thing ... lots of possibilities. Psi. Magic. Souls. Or perhaps HeLa isn't from Henerietta at all...

Or, maybe, her tormented soul is eternally trapped and increasingly angry, because it can't move on while even one cell from her body remains alive.

(You could get an entire season of Supernatural out of that one, especially if the increasing rage makes the trapped soul more powerful, as time passes.)

[Flyndaran]

Also weird in that their genes and chromosomal structures have adapted to single celled lab life so well they really shouldn't classify as human anymore.