“A difficult home
environment leads to an increased risk of criminal activity. Increased abortion
reduced unwantedness and therefore lower criminal activity.” New Attention for the Idea That Abortion Averts Crime: “John J. Donohue III of Stanford Law School and
Steven D. Levitt, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago… insist, however controversial
its implications, that it is impossible to ignore what they say is a striking link
between the introduction of legalized abortion in the early 1970’s and the drop
in crime about 18 years later.” The argument appears flawed, starting from the inability to fix causation in a web of correlation. The public policy implications are even more convoluted. New York Times

Why it is crucial that elephants have good
memories The Independent

Chimps touched by television: “A new study suggests that
humans are not the only animals to feel
sad or scared when watching television
— chimpanzees are also moved by
video clips of fearful or appealing
scenes.

What’s more, Lisa Parr of Yerkes
Regional Primate Research Center in
Atlanta, Georgia has found that chimps (Pan troglodytes) respond
physically to events portrayed in videos just as they would to the events
themselves. Nature science

Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Inc.: “Our charitable purpose is to bring about the
Singularity – the technological creation of greater-than-human intelligence. We believe that the creation of greater-than-human
intelligence would result in an immediate, worldwide, and material improvement to the human condition.”

“I wouldn’t be
surprised if tomorrow was the Final Dawn, the last sunrise before the Earth
and Sun are reshaped into computing elements.” Making HAL Your Pal. “If a computer becomes sufficiently smart, the argument goes, and
if it gains the ability to harm humans through nanotechnology or some means
we don’t expect, it may decide it doesn’t need us or want us around.” Portrait of a grandiose 21-year-old autodidact who believes the dangers of the Singularity are so imminent he has devoted his life to attempting to persuade others of the necessity to enforce the friendliness of AI entities. Because he’s an avid science fiction fan, his efforts take a form akin to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, of course. Wired

Dr. James Watson as eugenicist; calls for legalization of genetic engineering of humans to rid the species of genetic flaws.

Pleasure has an element of surprise “The brain finds unexpected pleasures more
rewarding than expected ones, and it may have little to do with what
people say they like.” Telegraph UK

Crackers Expand Private War: “American cracker group PoizonBOx has defaced at least a hundred Chinese websites since April 4.
Chinese hackers are now vowing to retaliate with a planned week-long all-out crack attack on American
websites and networks which will start on May 1.” Wired

“Execution enthusiasts will have to wait until Friday at the latest to
find out whether they’ll be able to witness the death of Timothy
McVeigh live on the Web.

A Federal judge yesterday heard a petition from the Entertainment
Network Inc (ENI) which is seeking to change the law so that it can
broadcast the death by lethal injection of the man responsible for the
Oklahoma bombing.

ENI which specialises in online voyeurism (although mostly of young
college girl) claims it has a constitutional right to broadcast the
execution.” The Register