Supergrunch

I spent my entire day covering an A2 piece of paper with metabolic reactions, and I'm now exhausted... I still have a presentation on selection in plants to prepare, however.

Heh, point me in their direction. They do test drugs on humans, after testing them on animals. A huge number of new drugs have potential to be incredibly dangerous - are you suggesting we just give them out to people? Even if you believe it's as bad giving them to animals (I'll come on to this), anyone advocating we give new drugs straight to humans wouldn't get into (or stay in) power for long. I believe 1 in 500 000 potential drugs make it to the market... and only a small fraction of these would be tested on animals, and an even smaller fraction on humans. Animal testing is only carried out where absolutely necessary. This is pretty much my view, but I take issue with the "just to see what happens" point. Isn't that a way of describing scientific research? How do you expect drugs to be developed without an understanding of, say, biochemistry? The massive difference between a chimp and a human child is potential. A chimp is a chimp, and will stay a chimp, but a human child will grow into an adult. As for mentally disabled people, they're a sensitive issue, not necessarily because they're similar to us, but because they are directly related to us. Also agreed. There really aren't. Even if you agree with the ethics here (which I don't), we don't want to introduce smallpox back into the population... So... when is an animal not an animal? Does a nit count as an animal? Does Plasmodium? (the agent causing malaria, a protoctist) Indeed, how does a plant differ from a cockroach? Are you telling me that you shouldn't use paper? Yep. Not immortality, just curing diseases. I know you claim not to give a fuck if you're going to die and there's no cure, but what if, say, it was your child dying? Anyway, it's a complex issue, and I think it is currently dealt with reasonably well by the scientific community. Animals are only tested on when absolutely necessary, and the more intelligent the animal appears to be, the stricter the regulations. However, many dilemmas still remain. Let's say animal testing is allowed for life threatening diseases, but not for cosmetic testing. Is animal testing then allowed for a hayfever cure? Nevertheless, the idea is a little distrubing for some people, but the same is true of slaughter houses. In fact, animals bred for food are treated far worse than those bred to undergo testing.

Well the concept of "forever" is meaningless in a timeless place. And time is only stopped for the holder of the watch.

How can the world be "forever" frozen if no time is passing? I don't see why anyone should notice anything at all.

So there are already people with these watches!

I'd do that an awful lot... I have so many books to catch up on. :wink: After reading, then sleeping and homework I think.

Yeah, I'll be watching it, though they may have ruined it... not that that relates to how either of our days were. My day was filling with carrying out DNA fingerprinting.

As opposed to "Nintendo Education". Anyhoo, today was alright. I had no supervision, and my practical wasn't too bad... and I've done half of the writeup already.

I read the Abhorsen triolgy a while back, and rather liked it actually. I'd like to read that new one of short stories, but I have so much else to read...

Happy birthday to ye!

Happy McBirthday. The greasier alternative to a happy sandwich.

I'm reading The Idiot, it's intriguing. I've put it on hold at the moment, but I'll continue soon. Prince Myshkin is great.

Well, if I were to rank his books, then I'd probably say Ghostwritten > Cloud Atlas > Black Swan Green > number9dream, though they're all brilliant. Ghostwritten is by far the most complicated, and has a sort of superstory running above the invidividual parts that you have to infer... I had to read it three times to fully understand it. Cloud Atlas was about manipulation, whereas Ghostwritten is more about chance - how individual people can alter the course of events, and how random occurences can change your life for ever. It's a beautiful book that works on multiple levels, an I recommend everyone here read it. And then read it again, and possibly again. Black Swan Green is an interesting one, it's more traditional than the rest of Mitchell's books, but still somehow feels the same. Like number9dream, it's very much a Bildungsroman, only this time one that is semi autobiographical. There are still clever connections, and the book will no doubt yield more when I get around to reading it a second time.

When my sister read she mentioned that the main character seemed very autistic, which your comments seem to back up - he can't really cope with simple conversation, and thinks about (and is disturbed by) things others take for granted. But yeah, I wasn't necessarily going for this angle, that's just how it turned out - as you say, it can be interpreted several ways. Anyway, thanks for the comments. I used to write a fair bit, but I haven't done anything for a few years now - I just felt like writing something last night. It was fun, I may write more some time.

Have you read After Dark yet? I very much enjoyed its cinematic style, it was one of the most gripping books I've read... ever.

So yeah, I had the urge to write a short piece, and thought I'd try free writing, where you just start going and see what happens. Here's the end product: He got up out of his chair, and swiftly opened the door, nervously glancing at the ceiling as he did so. Its appearance was unchanged from the day before; it still left something to be desired. Sighing, he shut the door and pulled on the handle to ensure it was locked. The road before him seemed slightly dreary, but he nevertheless strode forth with gusto. It was at this point that he noticed the fence. Of course, he'd looked at it every morning, but today he entertained the idea that it didn't quite fit, as if it had been placed there by an unknown force. It seemed usual in both structure and appearance – it was composed of wooden slats, each a few inches across, with the odd splinter poking out, marring the otherwise entirely regular array. Coupled with the fibrous structure, the near orange colouration made him think of saffron: a multitude of threads compacted together. Realising he was wasting time, he made to leave, but noticed another pair of eyes. “It's been needing a new coat of varnish for a while now. Is that bit particularly bad?” “Um... sorry, I er... no, not really...” The eyes glared at him accusingly. Their owner spoke again, this time almost threateningly. “It might even need painting.” “Ah, really? That must... be a bit of a bother.” The words came out of him practically spontaneously. He felt obliged to elaborate on this, but suppressed the urge. “I'm sorry, I have to rush.” He fixed his gaze on the road, and hurried away faster than was necessary. When he returned, the rich colour of the fence had been concealed beneath a dark green substance. He reached out to touch it, ignoring the sign on the ground which declared “WET PAINT” in wonky felt-tip. He looked down at his hand in horror, the green residue darkest between his first and second fingers. He stroked his thumb across the affected area of skin, taking in the sensation. He backed away from the fence, and headed towards his door, now running. When he made it inside he had to hold back the tears.

I'm reading Will you please be quiet, please! by Raymond Carver at the moment, along with about 50 other books. It's... interesting, and the plain style is sort of refreshing. Two of my favourite authors are David Mitchell and Haruki Murakami.

I prefer being too cold to being too hot, so winter is quite nice in a way. This Christmas I might finally get a Wii, provided I find one for a reasonable price somewhere, which may not be too likely.

You're all right, it's the best name ever.

What if I prioritise books over films? In most cases, I'd much rather read a book again than rewatch a film.

I suggested it a while back... look at the first letter of each word. :wink:

I think he's suggesting you pretend it was a fancy dress party.

I'm fairly sure it was Fields, but we can't be sure. Lol at the idea of it being Spieluhr, I can almost imagine him doing that.

Ah, that's good... I've been needing a good night's sleep for a while. I may just sleep for the first week of the Christmas holidays.

I don't think anyone actually tried to hold her up... Anyhoo, didn't they tell Jack Thompson he had to stay 50 yards away from video games at all times or something? If it weren't for that, he'd be all over this.