Word: humanism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...think I've seen - at least since equally offensive concentration camp fable, Life Is Beautiful - a movie so reliant on human stupidity to achieve its effect, so totally dishonest in its insistence on that quality (which it presents as innocence) to achieve its narrative goals. Bruno and Shmuel may be only eight years old, but that is well past the age of reason, and they are caught up in situation that would force anyone to acquire a shrewdness well in advance of their years. I don't know if a movie as simpleminded and emotionally shameless as this one definitively...
...Baron Cohen) is a frantic pantaloon who waves the stars on the plane back into Economy: "This is First Class. It's nothing personal. It's just that we're better than you." Toward the end of the movie he's convinced the villagers of the need for a human (actually, animal) sacrifice. Skipper and Julian are supremely confident psychotics, their vivid worlds unclouded by reality...
...developers say the new heart is the closest thing yet to the human body's natural ticker. Independent experts agree that it offers several significant improvements over what's currently available. The new device employs two pumps, instead of one, more accurately mimicking the function of a real heart's two ventricles, as well as a system of miniature sensors that react to physical activity and automatically increase or decrease the heart rate and blood pressure. The prosthesis also uses new composite bio-tech materials, which are made from animal tissue and chemically treated to eliminate the risk of blood...
...Carmat heart has been tested in the lab and in animals; it could take up to two years to get the approval needed to begin human trials. Among the issues that still need to be worked out: battery life. One charge, for example, runs anywhere from five to 16 hours. Though that's significantly better than older rivals, which last just 30 minutes if disconnected from a power source, it poses the problem of frequent recharging - and methods of doing so without increasing the risk of infection. "It's obvious that a major restriction of any artificial heart is recharging...
...strongly support expanding research on stem cells. I believe the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations,” Obama said recently. “As president, I will lift the current administration’s ban on federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines...