Links for 2008-04-25 [del.icio.us]

• It's not immoral to want to be immortal (Arthur Caplan)
  Fears of a world of geezers who hog up all the resources are overblown.
• Geoengineering: Go slow! Carbon reduction: Hurry! (Mike Treder)
  We have a serious problem on our hands, and the cure might turn out worse than the disease.
• Degrees of Visibility (Centauri Dreams)
  The more we learn about how our activities might be detected elsewhere, the better, and I think that raising the issue of ongoing radar transmissions is completely valid.
• Surgeons remove man's appendix through his mouth in world first operation (The Daily Mail)
  Mr Scholtz is one of the first patients in the world to have his appendix removed through his mouth.
• Universal 'babelfish' could translate alien tongues (New Scientist Space)
  If we ever make contact with intelligent aliens, we should be able to build a universal translator to communicate with them, according to a linguist and anthropologist in the US.
• Let 'Em Play (ESPN)
  Prosthetic advances let athletes like Jerrod Fields and Anthony Burruto (below) dream of keeping up with (or passing) the pros. If this sounds impossible - or unfair - you might want to keep reading.
• Flies get 'mind-control sex swap' (BBC)
  Scientists have been able to take control of flies' brains to make females behave just like males.