Around the Web – January 18th, 2011

Yes, The Singularity is the Biggest Threat to Humanity. Imitation and Social Cognition in Humans and Chimpanzees (I): Imitation, Overimitation, and Conformity. Doesn't fall into the trap of either/or, where chimpanzees are qualitatively different from humans in too stark of a manner, or simply quantitatively different in an implausible fashion. Emulation, Simulation, and the Human Brain. Tim B Lee is skeptical of whole brain emulation. Borderless Economy, Jobless Prosperity. The real issue is whether the nation-state matters in any deep way as anything more than an organizational convenience and semantic convention. I would say it does. Many globalists would disagree. The Chicken, The Egg, The Media and Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is magnetic. Buying Blind: Steve Jobs isn't saying why he's taking a medical leave. Is that fair to Apple investors? Looks like there's a lot of squishiness about what does, and doesn't, need to be disclosed. But if Apple is so dependent on its CEO's vision, is it really a good long term hold? Politically Confident, Iran Cuts Subsidies on Prices. Incentives matter: “I used to be the kind of person to have all the lights on because I liked the house to be very bright,” says Fariba, 28, an office worker. “But now I’ve changed my ways. I think it’s because they have been talking about it so much on the radio and television.”New Influx of Haitians, but Not Who Was Expected. Naturally rich Haitians take advantage of generosity intended for the poor dispossessed. Museum Is Symbol of Waste in Georgia. Tragic and funny story. The Vehicle of Street Food Is Getting an Overhaul. Creative destruction. Chefs out of work are on the street, in a good way. For Lebanese, Crisis Has Become a Way of Life. Demography is destiny. Shia have gone from the third largest group, to arguably the largest segment of the Lebanese religious marketplace. Towards threaded publications: helping to set the scientific record straight. Have women evolved to protect themselves from sexual assault?More Intensive Methods Needed to Identify TB in HIV-Prone Populations. Accuracy of CNV Detection from GWAS Data. More than SNPs. Is breast not best for babies?Deep Genomics: In the Case of DNA, the Package Can Be as Important as Its Contents, New Work With Fruit Flies Reveals. The Deadly Logic of Anti-Blasphemy Laws. "In recent weeks, a coalition of Muslim nations has demanded (again) that the United Nations criminalize blasphemy. A considerable number of Christians might, at least at first hearing, think this as a reasonable demand. After all, we do not disagree that slander against the honor of God is a very, very dangerous sin. But anti-blasphemy laws place the power of theological coercion into the hands of the state, and this is deadly dangerous." Christianity itself is in some ways blasphemous. To other religions. So is Islam. New Evidence for Climate Impacts on Ancient Societies. Keep in mind that humans were much more impacted by exogenous factors in the recent past.