Links for 2008-05-12

• That Must Be Bob. I Hear His New Hip Squeaking. (New York Times)
  The first time John L. Johnson's artificial hip squeaked, he was bending down to pick up a pine cone in his yard in Thomasville, Ga. Mr. Johnson looked up, expecting to find an animal nearby.
• Our surveillance society goes online (The Guardian)
  The potential for computers to read and understand data places our privacy under threat.
• Five science fiction movies that get the science right (New Scientist)
  So, to give credit where it's due, we have picked out five more sci-fi films that go against the grain, and contain some accurate, plausible science. They may not be completely realistic, but they get it right when it matters most.
• The World's Spookiest Weapons (Popular Science)
  Cyborg animals, psychotropics and flying lasers are just some of the terrifying weapons government labs have cooked up over the years.
• Learning to Breathe Mars Air (Video) (Universe Today)
  Talk about dedication! Volunteers in Russia are testing the ability of humans to breathe argon-enriched air, as part of a research program that simulates a manned trip to Mars.
• Once shunned by academics, Wikipedia now a teaching tool (PhysOrg)
  Wikipedia, the upstart Internet encyclopedia that most universities forbid students to use, has suddenly become a teaching tool for professors.
• Put a Tyrant in Your Tank (Mother Jones)
  You thought ExxonMobil was bad? Meet the new kings of crude.
• Dr. Pinker Lays the Smackdown on Leon Kass (Accelerating Future)
  In The Stupidity of Dignity, published a couple weeks ago at The New Republic, Dr. Pinker sees right through Kass' hyper-theological, far-right, intolerant, paternalistic bioethics.