eat some furniture

In the Future we may be able to engineer our children to be more "earth friendly" According to a paper published by S. Matthew Liao and others ... In this paper, we consider a new kind of solution to climate change, what we call human engineering, which involves biomedical modifications of humans so that they can mitigate and/or adapt to climate change. We argue that human engineering is potentially less risky than geoengineering and that it could help behavioural and market solutions succeed in mitigating climate change. We also consider some possible ethical concerns regarding human engineering such as its safety, the implications of human engineering for our children and for the society, and we argue that these concerns can be addressed. Our upshot is that human engineering deserves further consideration in the debate about climate change. One step closer to "Hatching and Conditioning Centres" ala Brave New World?

GMOs not poison, however they may not be all the good they're cracked up to be either. According to a report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists That promise has proven to be empty, according to Failure to Yield, a report by UCS expert Doug Gurian-Sherman released in March 2009. Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields. Failure to Yield is the first report to closely evaluate the overall effect genetic engineering has had on crop yields in relation to other agricultural technologies. It reviewed two dozen academic studies of corn and soybeans, the two primary genetically engineered food and feed crops grown in the United States. Based on those studies, the UCS report concluded that genetically engineering herbicide-tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not increased yields. Insect-resistant corn, meanwhile, has improved yields only marginally. The increa...

From The World Health Organization : 20 QUESTIONS ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) FOODS Q13. Why has there been concern about GM foods among some politicians, public interest groups and consumers, especially in Europe? Since the first introduction on the market in the mid-1990s of a major GM food (herbicide-resistant soybeans), there has been increasing concern about such food among politicians, activists and consumers, especially in Europe. Several factors are involved. In the late 1980s – early 1990s, the results of decades of molecular research reached the public domain. Until that time, consumers were generally not very aware of the potential of this research. In the case of food, consumers started to wonder about safety because they perceive that modern biotechnology is leading to the creation of new species. Consumers frequently ask, “what is in it for me?”. Where medicines are concerned, many consumers more readily accept biotechnology as beneficial for their health (e.g. med...

Visited "The Book Juggler" downtown and discovered Lanny Cotler has a new (2011) novel, " In the Beginning the Dance ". "I believe we are here to listen to each other's stories because they can help make sense of our lives. It is in sharing our stories that we inspire hope and make leaps of faith that can move us beyond our limitations. This story is a transformational healing journey. " In the Beginning the Dance " combines stories of indigenous wisdom with modern medical science, tells the difference between healing and curing; explores the volatile interface between cultures, the struggles about identity and finding one's place in the world, what it means to be in a tribe, and how to move beyond separateness to universality. In the Beginning the Dance may inspire you to look again at what you know and see the familiar from a new perspective. This book may open your mind so that you can create new endings to your old stories, and tell them...