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Sunday, August 17, 2003 Links with Commentary Speech Accent Archive. Wonderfully fascinating to listen to even though I couldn't fake an accent to save my life. I sort of assume my own accent is very close to a "neutral" North American accent but how am I to know? One doesn't normally go around asking people what their accent is. People Like Us. While I was growing up, I was always surrounded by people unlike me. I mean, sure, these people were supposed to be in the same economic strata as my family, but that doesn't mean anything. I wasn't white or religious. Even though I'm quite "westernized" my cultural background is certainly different. When I went to college though, I was suddenly amazed at how well I fit in. I was pretty much in nerd-heaven. However, I'm not sure how conscious the decision was to move to a place where everyone (well, except the yuppies) was like me. Perhaps it had to do more with my set of priorities. Changing Faces. It's both sad and frustrating to note that today's society is inherently shallow and youth-obsessed. I'd like to think that I don't really care that much about not being pretty or that I'm not afraid of getting old, but the reality is I hate pain and the idea of "being under the knife" even more. But what would happen when plastic surgery becomes as harmless and painless as shopping for new clothes? Will everyone rush off to the doctor's office to get the new face of the week--one day looking like a flawless leggy blonde, the next as a cheery brunette? What will happen to identity? Will anyone have an identity anymore? Is everyone so obsessed with beauty that they will risk looking like every other drone on the covers of women's magazines? Human genetics: Dual identities. I would also just like to note that at least half of the human population is phenotypically mosaic. Everyone with two X chromosomes is phenotypically mosaic because in each cell, one X chromosome is randomly inactivated due to the dosage effect. But of course, that isn't really the same as the subject of the article. But speaking of human chimeras, there are also human-rabbit chimeras. Part of me is curious as to what the embryo would be like if developed to full term, but then again it's extremely ethically dubious. Muteblog. (via BoingBoing) A blog told only with colors. Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. They play with vegetables. Extremely weird. Microbe Brew. For those amateur microbiologists who don't have access to labs and expensive equipment. Omaha zoo testing DNA of mystery apes. This would be very cool if they discovered a new species. People find new bacteria and insects all the time, but the chances of finding new large mammals are vanishingly small. Unconscious Mutterings
[posted by S. Y. Affolee on 10:10 AM : ]
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