Cower, Puny Heterotrophs --- The Mighty Autotrophs Are Evolving To Replace You!

[Dr Adequate]

Unless, of course, this article (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/14815_autotroph.html) is complete rubbish.

What is it with Russian scientists, anyway?

[jmercer]

My guess is that a terrible economy + desperate people = bad science

When you're desperate eat and feed your family, professional credibility comes out second best. I can't argue with that priority, really.

(edited for sp)

[El Greco]

Let's see what else "Pravda" is going to print. At any rate, I can't imagine that BS being printed even on the worst Greek tabloid.

[Pragmatist]

Originally posted by Dr Adequate
Unless, of course, this article (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/14815_autotroph.html) is complete rubbish.

What is it with Russian scientists, anyway?

And there I was, thinking an autotroph was an automatic pig feeder... :eek:

[chrisberez]

Originally posted by jmercer
My guess is that a terrible economy + desperate people = bad science
(edited for sp)

True. Although there's $1 Million waiting to be claimed...

[Ashles]

My new hobby is going to be selling Russian scientist pieces of my belly button lint and telling them it is special magic cloth from, I dunno, Mercurian aliens' robes.
And charging them a fortune for it.

As there appears to be literally nothing they won't believe.

And what the hell is the picture with that article?

http://english.pravda.ru/img/2005/01/meadish.jpg

Sea organisms? The inside of the stomach of someone very ill? A deleted scene from Alien?

And have you seen the other stories on the top right?

Humans learn to fly (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/378/14253_levitation.html)
Soviet army fought UFOs (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/378/11873_UFO.html)

So just to clarify - is Pravda now merely the Russian equivalent of the National Enquirer?

[El Greco]

Apparently there are tons of such stories over there: Russian scientist invents camera to take pictures of ghosts and past (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/378/13657_ghost.html)

[Ashles]

Wow, how bizarre. It appears that I wasn't joking. It really is a National Enquirer-alike!

[jmercer]

Originally posted by chrisberez
True. Although there's $1 Million waiting to be claimed...

Yes, there is. And even though they've sold their credibility, that doesn't mean they're stupid, just desperate. Can't win the prize if you can't do the miracle. :)

[Correa Neto]

Hey, what´s next?

Will you dare to say all those Russian scientists who proved Nina Kulagina´s paranormal powers are kooks?

This thread is nothing but a conspiracy to discredit Jambo´s sources.

[Ashles]

I guess Pravda never fully recovered from being sued by Nina for calling her a fraud so they have gone really the other way.

Stupid claim? Hey we believe you. Don't sue.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by Dr Adequate
Unless, of course, this article (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/14815_autotroph.html) is complete rubbish.

What is it with Russian scientists, anyway?

I'm sure Russia has no shortage of people who don't eat.

[Sanamas]

Originally posted by Ashles
My new hobby is going to be selling Russian scientist pieces of my belly button lint and telling them it is special magic cloth from, I dunno, Mercurian aliens' robes.
And charging them a fortune for it.

As there appears to be literally nothing they won't believe.

And what the hell is the picture with that article?

http://english.pravda.ru/img/2005/01/meadish.jpg

Sea organisms? The inside of the stomach of someone very ill? A deleted scene from Alien?

And have you seen the other stories on the top right?

Humans learn to fly (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/378/14253_levitation.html)
Soviet army fought UFOs (http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/378/11873_UFO.html)

So just to clarify - is Pravda now merely the Russian equivalent of the National Enquirer?

That's what the average Russian meal looks like. Can you blame them for not wanting to eat?

[SezMe]

My favorite part:

"Scientists of the Bauman Institute examined her organism ..."

Bet that was fun. :o

[Zep]

Can anyone find some better references to this?Modern parapsychologists say that the phenomenon of levitation can be observed nowadays too. Yogis, masters of transcendental meditation, are rather successful in their art of levitation. A public competition of flying yogis took place in Washington in 1986. About 20 "athletes" competed in their flying abilities. The record was set on the level of 60 centimeters above the ground. The longest yoga flight was 1.8 meters.Or was Jimmy Olsen stuck under another friggin' train somewhere while this was going on, and couldn't report in?

[El Greco]

Originally posted by Zep
Can anyone find some better references to this?

How about this (http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys5/yogicfly.htm) and that (http://www.getunderground.com/underground/columns/article.cfm?Article_ID=575) ?

[Zep]

Originally posted by El Greco
How about this (http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys5/yogicfly.htm) and that (http://www.getunderground.com/underground/columns/article.cfm?Article_ID=575) ? Thanks! I needed that! I haven't had such a really good belly-laugh in ages!

[Dr Adequate]

I guess during the Communist era Pravda published Marxist woo about the wisdom of Stalin, the historical inevitability of Communist world domination, and the magical wonderfulness of the latest Five Year Plan. With the fall of the USSR, they realised that there wan't a market for that specific kind of rubbish any more, but that there's always a market for incredible lies, wishful thinking, and uncritical reportage of the fantastic claims of others. Hey-ho.

[Soapy Sam]

"All living beings on our planet can be divided into two categories ..."

Can't argue with that.