This is not a cat [Taxonomy]

This is not a cat [Taxonomy]:

Sometimes it's easy to make a mistake when picking a photo of an animal — presenting an image of a rat instead of a mouse, for example. Or mistaking a crane fly for a mosquito. But whoever made this missing cat poster has taken the crown for animal mis-classification.

In any case, there is now a way to express just how much the possum featured in the missing poster is not a cat, because biologist and blogger Alex Wild has come up with a brilliant method of quantifying the extent of taxonomic misidentification. He calls it the Taxonomic Fail Index (TFI) and it's actually a pretty straightforward little equation:

Taxonomy Fail Index (TFI) = T/H

Where T = the number of million years since the two species (the correct species and the species an organism is misidentified as) shared a common ancestor; and H = the number of million years since humans and our closest relatives, the chimps, shared a common ancestor (about 6.4).

"In other words," writes Wild, "the Taxonomy Fail Index scales the amount of error in absolute time against the error of misidentifying a human with a chimp." He continues:

If I were to run a story about Sarah Palin, but accidentally illustrate it with a photo of a bonobo, that would be a taxonomy fail of magnitude 1.

The classic Taxonomy Fail of possum/cat has a TFI of 24.6.

The yellow jacket/honey bee fail...has a TFI of 25.2, or slightly stupider than mistaking an opossum for a cat.

Let's try putting the equation to work, shall we? This image is from a post I wrote back in August about how rats were not actually responsible for the Black Death.

The image features what I thought was a black rat (Rattus rattus) — but commenter mikeiko seemed to think that I had failed by "putting a pet fancy rat on the picture, which is a Brown rat [Rattus norvegicus], rather than...[a] Black Rat [Rattus rattus]."

Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus last shared a common ancestor roughly 3.0 million years ago. According to Wild's handy formula, that would give my black rat/brown rat fail a TFI of 3.0MYA/6.4MYA, or approximately 0.469. It's a far cry from mistaking a cat for a possum, but the point is that the next time one of you feels like publicly shaming us for using the wrong image of a species in a post, you can do it with numbers and figures! (You can use a resource like TimeTree to calculate time of divergence.) [MYRMECOS]

Chimps make noises to stop the spread of ignorance [Monkey News]

Chimps make noises to stop the spread of ignorance [Monkey News]:

Most species will raise the alarm instinctively if they see a deadly threat. Chimpanzees, however, are way too sophisticated for all that. They actually figure out if the other chimps are aware of the threat, before bothering to say anything.

Researchers at Scotland's University of St. Andrews went to Uganda and, in what at first sounds like the most ludicrous setup for an experiment ever, placed some model snakes in the path of wild chimpanzees. When a group of chimps came across the snakes, the first chimp to see them made what's known as an "alert hoo", a call that informs the other chimps that a potentially deadly danger is present.

That isn't particularly unusual, but then more chimps showed up. As the newcomers arrived, the first set of chimps noticed them and repeated the "alert hoo", making sure they also knew about the snake. Crucially, the chimpanzees hadn't just been constantly sounding the alarm - the call had stopped when it was clear all the chimps knew about the snake, and then started up again when a newcomer showed up. Researcher Catherine Crockford explains the significance of this:

"Chimpanzees really seem to take another's knowledge state into account. They voluntarily produce a warning call to inform audience members of a danger that they do not know about. They are less likely to inform those who already know about the danger."

This is the first time we've seen a non-human species recognize ignorance in others and take steps to fill them in. This also demonstrates the explicitly social aspects of chimp communication, as the calls serve to help others avoid danger. It seems to support the idea that language itself evolved in humans at least in part as a way of reducing ignorance through the transfer of information. Now, it appears, that drive to stamp out ignorance might go all the way back to the common ancestor we share with chimps.

Via Current Biology. Image by wwarby on Flickr.

What happens when you really can't sleep — ever. [Medicine]

What happens when you really can't sleep — ever. [Medicine]:

Stress, deadlines, or caffeine can give people a few sleepless nights, but there are some people for whom insomnia is chronic, complete, and fatal. Find out about a rare, but scary, condition known as fatal familial insomnia.

The first case of fatal familial insomnia shocked the world in 1984. An Italian man named Silvano, in his mid-fifties, with no history of major sleep problems, checked into a prominent sleep clinic. He had completely lost his ability to sleep. For most of us, having 'insomnia' means not being able to sleep for a couple of hours when going to bed. Sufferers of FFI are unable to sleep at all, sometimes for months. The man whose arrival at that clinic in Bologna first brought the condition to the world's attention, died after four months of documented insomnia. Then, and now, doctors have no explanation for his death.

Silvano's family, and about forty other families world-wide, have a specific genetic mutation. Almost all members of affected families have reported a full night without sleep, but the disease only kicks into gear in some cases. In some cases, though, the insomnia becomes chronic and life-threatening.

The 1984 official diagnosis was preceded by a stream of unofficial deaths. In the 1970s Silvano's niece suddenly began to lose the ability to sleep, and died about a year after the onset of the illness. Sleeping pills and other forms of medication did no good. Some time after she died, her sister was struck with the same set of symptoms. The woman's husband was a doctor. Mystified and frightened, he looked back through ancient family records and found more family members who had died of 'epilepsy' or 'mental illness,' that seemed to fit the pattern, and met older and more distant relatives who had seen their family members die of a similar affliction.

Genetic testing revealed that fifty percent of the family were carriers of the gene. Most of the carriers remained healthy throughout their lives. Those that lost the ability to sleep, though, faced a horrific future. The insomnia was caused by a protein that began attacking the structure of the brain. Silvano's brain, when examined by doctors, was full of tiny holes. Once the sleeplessness has gone on for too long, the patient becomes suspended in a half-dream-reality. Patients act out their dreams, and mime combing their hair or putting on clothes. They are still awake, but unable to engage with things happening around them. They lose the ability to walk and talk as their bodies become weaker. At last, after months of sleeplessness, they die.

Doctor's still don't know exactly why those patients were affected when other carriers of the gene were not. In fact, doctors don't know exactly why people sleep, or why the loss of the ability to sleep becomes fatal. They hope that a cure for this rare disease will come in the next decade, but right now, the only hope for those with the mutation is that it never becomes active.

Image: Art Institute of Chicago

Via MSNBC and ABC.

The Complete Rules For Games

The Complete Rules For Games:

I love rules. Not following them, of course – that’s for other people. I love writing them. And since I’m the best qualified to decide how everyone else is allowed to behave, it’s only appropriate that I be in charge of everything. So it is that I have been making clear the Rules For Games, both for developers and for players, in an ongoing series that shall be added to forever. You can find the first four parts below.

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Awesome New UFO Theory: Approaching Comet is Really a Borg Cube From Jesus [Holy Crap Wtf]

I love mentals :)

Awesome New UFO Theory: Approaching Comet is Really a Borg Cube From Jesus [Holy Crap Wtf]:

There's nothing better than a wild UFO conspiracy theory — unless it's a UFO theory that wraps in a debunked comet, the Catholic Church, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Conspiracy theorists believe that Comet Elenin is rapidly approaching Earth, and that it's a perfect cube. A cube piloted by cyborgs who seek to assimiliate the human race into their collective. A Borg Cube, in other words. Yes, the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation "were being prophetic" when they created the Borg, writes extraterrestrial expert Alex Collier over at the Canadian National Newspaper.

(For what it's worth, NASA says Comet Elenin was destroyed in October, and it was never going to be an issue in any case. But that's just what you'd expect them to say.)

So Comet Elenin wasn't actually destroyed, and it's a perfect cube, and this proves the Borg are real. Okay. But it doesn't stop there — apparently this Borg cube is known as the Galactic Obliteration Device, or G.O.D. for short. And there's tons of evidence that Christianity and the Bible are really about how Jesus is a Borg and he's coming to assimilate us. Just look at the image up top, depicting "Jesus of Borg." Apparently this is spelled out in the Book of Revelation.

Over at the Luciferian Liberation Front, there's an article that spells out how going to Heaven is really a metaphor for joining the Borg:

When we dissect the cube of heaven we see that it is constructed like a living cell with its own system of energy circulation and metabolism. (See diagram) From all appearances it is a giant soular battery/generator which allows the ONE mind of the collective G.O.D. to be able to feed off the life essences of the enslaved souls held within its "temple pillars" and redirect their energies according to the will of the ONE. ... Will YOU be a "pillar" in the temple of God?Those spirits which have little or no self-will and have been sufficiently programmed to serve G.O.D. during their lives will have the highest nourishment potential. The Bible tells us what will happen to those who are selected as purest and most worthy to provide sustenance to G.O.D. They will be made "pillars" in the temple of God (Rev. 3:12). They will become a PART of the New Jerusalem and will nourish G.O.D. and "their tears will be wiped away and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the FORMER THINGS are passed away." (Rev. 21:4) Sure, there won't be any more crying! All their memories will be wiped clean. They will no longer exist in a form that is recognizable to them or anyone else.

There's also a nice bit where they compare eternal life in Heaven to joining the Q Continuum, which Star Trek: Voyager proved was so boring that members of the Continuum would choose to commit suicide or become Civil War reenactors.

So will YOU be ready when Jesus of Borg arrives?

Airsoft GI - Left 4 Dead - Impulse 76 Fan Film - YouTube

Until the twist I was gonna proclaim this the best thing ever.
It's still cool, just don't know why they decided to take it where they did :/

Airsoft GI - Left 4 Dead - Impulse 76 Fan Film - YouTube

The Elder Strolls, part 2: That Sinking Feeling | PC Gamer

The Elder Strolls, part 2: That Sinking Feeling | PC Gamer

"on average, the quotes from the lads’ mags were ranked as more degrading than those from the..."

"on average, the quotes from the lads’ mags were ranked as more degrading than those from the...": “on average, the quotes from the lads’ mags were ranked as more degrading than those from the convicted rapists”

- When the mainstream is extreme: research on sexism in lads’ mags.

Comic for December 16, 2011

Comic for December 16, 2011:

The Fumbled RPS Bundle | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The Fumbled RPS Bundle | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Research And Development

Research And Development:

A Life In PC Gaming: My Shame | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

A Life In PC Gaming: My Shame | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Gabe Newell opens up possibility of a Three Musketeers game, Valve ARG begins

Oh god. If this is what they're suggesting then Valve just might break the internet.


Gabe Newell opens up possibility of a Three Musketeers game, Valve ARG begins:

It all began on 4Chan. A lengthy thread was started in which posters would construct an email to Gabe Newell, one word at a time. The result was complete gibberish. You can read it here. Suriprisingly, Newell apparently replied to the email with this message.

“I don’t suppose it would ease your wrath if I told you we’re announcing all of your favourite things at E3 2012?”

Then, a follow up message, posted on Reddit. “I can see how the wording caused some confusion there. Yes, we are announcing something with a three in it.”

THREE MUSKETEERS CONFIRMED. The emails may be fake, of course, but Valve have been in a playful mood recently. There was that employee who turned up to a local game developer conference in a Half Life 3 tee. With the release of a code-filled teaser trailer over the weekend, and the appearance of the @Doug_Rattman Twitter feed, one thing is certain. Valve have started another ARG.

Item One: In which Wheatley rants against a background full of probable clues

The video above, hosted on GameTrailers, was shown as part of an awards ceremony over the weekend. In the background there are plenty of streaming numbers, barcodes and visual artefacts that are just bound to contain hidden messages.

Item The Second: In which Doug Rattman rants on the Twitters

After lying dormant for months, Doug_Rattman has burst into life with the words “It βegins.”

Then he starts tweeting long series of numbers in a similar format to the ones strobing alongside Wheatley in the above trailer, things like: “AV – 10.0 | 8.2 | 12.6 | 15.2 | 7.8 | 0.2 | 17.9 | 6.9 | 21.1 | 3.7 | 21.2 | 20.4 | 10.7 – Connection Lost”

Oh god. Here we go again. Could it have something to do with an upcoming Steam sale, could it all be leading toward a Half Life 3 reveal?

Rainbow Six: Patriots – #OccupyClancy

LOL. What is this shit?

Rainbow Six: Patriots – #OccupyClancy:

The video that first made me aware that Rainbow Six: Patriots would allow me to press square to kiss my wife was a breath of fresh air in the stale confines of this business called game. Tom Clancy’s skill as writer, computer graphics wizard and cinematographer allowed him to deliver a rollercoaster ride. I gasped with delight as foreclosures were topically referenced, screamed in excited glee as a wiggly-hipped woman was held at knifepoint and actually raised my arms and went ‘wheeeee’ as a man wearing a suicide vest was thrown off a bridge and exploded. I was concerned that this level of intensity was impossible to maintain. But, lo! A new teaser trailer shows that Tom’s still got it where it counts. In his willingness to ensure that all promotional materials contain an unarmed man being forcibly blown to bits in an urban environment.

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Death Offers No Peace: Darksiders II

Death Offers No Peace: Darksiders II:

Darksiders II was also revealed at the ridiculous VGA Spike thing. THQ’s sequel to, well, Darksiders, has been quiet since July, when we took a look at it. But it was waiting for the annual fartfest to reveal itself a new teaser trailer, and indeed its release date. Which will be, oh, “Summer 2012″. Well, it’s better than “TBA”.

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