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I didn't get any cake :(

We are not, and I stress not "in the 3rd dimension". We perceive three dimensions in terms of up-down, left-right, back and forward. A dimension is not a place, and you can't be in it. Or to put it another way, Phil prattles knowledgeably about subjects he doesn't understand (we all do that, but...

That would be astronomy. Don't give Phil a heart attack with the other "a-" word, he seems a nice person if somewhat dogmatic. I wasn't sure what Childress was saying about the Moon's rotation, and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on that one since it's hard to describe. But I was...

This technique is good for cutting down the time it takes to decipher lanugages that we already have a good handle on (because they have known relatives), but won't help with the really tough nuts. It should however increase the number of readable texts. Etruscan is a language that is...

This one had its pluses and its minuses. I agree with NTS about the postmodernism (If I'd had any alcohol I might have started a drinking game, with the highest points going should the phrase "deconstructing the narrative of the UFO 'experience'" or any variations thereon crop up). On the other...

It's a defensive adaptation to discourage the Japanese from eating them (for scientific purposes of course).

June 20th: A plea to Gene and Paul Very true. On the hemophiliac issue for instance I knew there had been an appalling rate of contamination here and in Australia (same source) but I had no idea that it was a global disaster on that scale.

I think you misunderstand my point. We don't know the circumstances of a putative civilisation using generation ships. We don't know what would prompt their journey, but it might be desperation (imagine a civilisation on a little more advanced than our own, but a little better organised...

There's a flaw with Stan's Magellan analogy for interstellar space flight: even if some civilisations have achieved almost instantaneous travel over enormous distances (or something similar), that in no way precludes others from puttering around in generation ships or other primitive craft that...

Oh well. We'll always have Titan.

It's actually very difficult to answer that question, because a) given our ignorance of the biology or technological accomplishments of any world but our own, anything we conclude about what is likely for real ET visitation is based on inference. It can be argued that very humanoid Others are...

"Pardon me boy, is that the Woo-woo choo-choo?"

This is from the great '70s Irish band Horslips See him driving those golden nails That hold together the silver bars They're one day gonna take us to the stars 'Cos he's the man who built America See him walking that golden wire A million miles from his starting place See the world...

That's actually some of the smartest analysis I've heard from Chomsky in a long while (some of his stuff in recent years has been shall we say...lacking in nuance? simplistic in its depiction of heroes and villains?). Very well explained. It's unfortunate that a century of propaganda from all...

Well said...and now I'm going to annoy everybody. I would also add that Bush and Blair are personally responsible for every atrocity committed in their little war of choice (including that young girl who was raped and then murdered along with her family), because once you unleash the beast (war)...

Sorry, and everyone's going to hate me, but for your own good you need to receive this obligatory visit from the Grammar Police: There is no word "seeked" in English. The word you're looking for is "sought". Anything else is frankly baby talk.

I agree, both on wishing an actual ET vessel would be detected and thinking this one's probably one of ours. Actually, I think the fact that it's obviously artificial increases the likelihood of a terrestrial origin: if you were crossing the interstellar void the hard way (not taking any...

It's with great relief that note it was at least your own mouth you vomited in a little. Because the alternative would be gross.

There was nothing exceptional in the "Earth is Round" thing - every educated European (and Arab etc.) had known that since Classical times (and the knowledge survived the fall of Rome, so it didn't have to be rediscovered). The roundness of the Earth was discussed and demonstrated in medieval...

Let's see: if my radio starts giving me nothing but static and interference, do I a) Assume I'm receiving cryptic communications from the dead, assorted spirits, transdimensional beings or aliens b) Think "Bugger, I need a new radio". Oh never mind, I give up. But for anyone who's...