Word: torpedo
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That announcement rankled Venter's many critics. At a scientific meeting at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, he was denounced as "the enemy." Some charged that he was not only trying to torpedo the Human Genome Project but was also maneuvering to become the Bill Gates of biotech. Just as Gates leverages his monopoly in computer operating systems to dominate other areas of the software industry, Venter may someday control information about the human genome--which in effect is the operating system of humans. That would enable him to hold sway over the burgeoning, multibillion-dollar business...
There were many ironies. The Bosnian Muslims, generally regarded as the victims, were the most self-destructive and uncooperative members of the group, threatening up to the very last minute to torpedo the peace agreement. Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Serbia, widely perceived to be the original begetter of the tragedy, turned out to be the most constructive--and ostensibly amiable--of the protagonists. And the reluctance of the American military to become involved accounted for some major weaknesses in the final arrangement...
KENNETH STARR Not even his case but it's still a torpedo in his engine room...
...anatomy of theropods--a group of two-legged dinosaurs--than they could ever learn from bones alone. The group, which includes Tyrannosaurus rex as well as velociraptors, is considered by many to comprise the direct ancestors of modern birds. Having the internal organs in hand could help support--or torpedo--that connection. Already, in fact, some scientists are suggesting that the position of the liver indicates an internal structure more like a lizard's than a bird's, undercutting the dinosaur-bird link. Its breastbone, on the other hand, says paleontologist Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History...
Indeed, this El Nino, like the others that preceded it, has generated as many questions as answers. Why, scientists wonder, does it sometimes torpedo the Indian monsoon and sometimes leave it alone? Is it typical, or very unusual, that as many as four El Ninos have struck over the past seven years? How remarkable is it that two record-breaking El Ninos have occurred within 15 years of each other...