Obelisks: A New Form of Life?

We've talked about viruses as being an outlier that strains the definition of life. Viruses do not have the ability to reproduce on their own, but must harness a host cell of another species to replicate. But now there's a new type of life form that is even more primitive than viruses called obelisks.

Obelisks consist of a viroid-like disc of RNA, but they do not have the protein shell that viruses have. Their genetic information is completely distinct from any known species, putting them into a unique phylogenic group. They reproduce by infecting another cell, like viruses do. They haven't yet been classified into the Tree of Life because scientists aren't really sure where they belong. But obelisks have been found in the microbiome of humans, in the digestive tract. One type of obelisks studied infects the bacteria Streptococcus sanguinis, found in human mouths. The impact of obelisks in the human biome has not been determined, but they've been there all this time and just haven't been found until recently. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Ivan N. Zheludev et al. via Cell magazine)


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The socialist utopias of Europe seem to have no problem charging for the use of their WCs. Coin operated seems a wee bit crass and very obtrusive when you really really really have to go, so no wonder it is hated in the US. They should've copied the European version, with a grumpy old woman grunting incomprehensibly whenever you get out of the WC without putting something on the "tip" plate.
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There is an old song called "Babylon Mall" about our local shopping mall by a comedy troupe (it's on YouTube). One of the lines is "you pays to pee at the mall" lol. You don't pay to pee there anymore but I do remember when the pay toilets were there. I think they removed them in the early nineties.
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Wonder if when they started abolishing pay toilets, they used the Beatles song "You Never Give Me Your Money" as it's theme. Likely not since it was a Paul song and not a JOHN song.
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There are still some places in the US where you must pay to "go" - as Eddie says, they make you pay for a token. Last time I was in the Casino in Seaside Heights it was still the case there - still worth the money if you've had too much coconut cream pie...
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New York outlawed pay toilets in '75 alright, but waived that rule for NYC in '93. Now there are plenty of em around. Not exactly a recent development, and deserving a mention.

It's a weird idea, isn't it? You pay, but less than it really costs, and get the hassle of needing to have change in a hurry. And in exchange for the .25-$1 or so, the locale risks having to clean up human waste off the walls and floor.
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