Man-made flu could kill half of humanity (yes, they did)

My immune system is shit already. Release that thing and let's get it over with, Science!

@MideonNViscera said:

They built some giant atom smasher under Europe that they actually thought might open a black hole and consume the Earth, or something. This isn't a big deal to me haha

There is a small chance of it opening up a black hole, but the chance is less than the chance of the sun blowing up today (the chance of the sun blowing up actually is above zero, it's just not very high). So more likely we'll get killed by a solar explosion than by a black hole created by the LHC.

Also, you guys must not be well-versed in this thing called "ebola".

Hopefully this batch kills off the 50% of the lowest intellect so that there's still hope to concoct another flu to finish the job.

@Sogeman said:

The worst stuff is always made by us.

As long as I'm one of the survivors, I don't mind the apocalypse.

Same here!

Global Warming, 2012, The Rapture, Population-halving Plague, Murderous Scientists, Overdue Earthquakes and Overdue Volcanos.

Try harder, there's a lot of world ending competition out there already.

@ThePhantomnaut said:

Where is Jesus?

He got banned. You better hope Screened Jesus has our backs.

If this thing gets out I wanna be The Walkin' Dude.

Calling it "man-made" is kind of misleading. The contagion was passed back and forth between ferrets naturally (in a somewhat artificial environment, since the likelihood of being constantly exposed to a contagion and swapping it back and forth in nature like that is unlikely) to see if it could become airborne and possibly pandemic. Now that they know that it can, that's one step closer to them working on a vaccine instead of assuming that it won't happen and being unprepared. This kind of research is sort of necessary and probably happens more often than we think.

@coakroach said:

My pants give +20 to poison resistance so I reckon i'll be good.

Too bad they aren't +20 to disease resistance. lol

Why do I get the impression that scientists seem to waste their time and knowledge more than anyone else on the planet?

don't release the virus recipe. just let it stand there in the lab. i'm sure that there are more biological things  in labs that aren't be released. maybe they can find a cure for it.

The smartest people in the world often do the dumbest shit.

@SadPatrol said:

I'll just get vaccinated so I'll be fine

LOL you will be the first to die XD

@Kazona said:

Sometimes scientists can be really fucking stupid.

By making this, they can find out how to fight it and other, similar threats if they arise.

Do you guys all seriously think they're just wasting millions of dollars just to dick around?

@Voxel said:

Why do I get the impression that scientists seem to waste their time and knowledge more than anyone else on the planet?

Seriously, how did you get that impression?

@Pinworm45 said:

@Kazona said:

Sometimes scientists can be really fucking stupid.

By making this, they can find out how to fight it and other, similar threats if they arise.

Do you guys all seriously think they're just wasting millions of dollars just to dick around?

this is scientist according to the thread "derp derp derp creatin captain trips herp derp derp"

@RoyCampbell said:

Looks like I'm moving to Madagascar.

I love you.

"It's the apocalypse alright... I always knew I'd have a hand in it."

Well I see no way this could go wrong

Just half?

@jozzy said:

@Voxel said:

Why do I get the impression that scientists seem to waste their time and knowledge more than anyone else on the planet?

Seriously, how did you get that impression?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

Scientists are not wizards... even though a lot of people treat them as such. Knowledge takes time, a lot of work, and research on things that might seem odd or unrelated (to most people).

Eh, who cares. It's really just a decleration of "if you fuck with the US, then we have created yet another way to kill you all, without nuclear fallout". Though it would be hilarious if the human race was wiped out by our own creation. Maybe then we'll be succeeded by something cool, like talking Pandabears.

So, they hit their hammers on stuff until science happened?

@Mcfart said:

Eh, who cares. It's really just a decleration of "if you fuck with the US, then we have created yet another way to kill you all, without nuclear fallout". Though it would be hilarious if the human race was wiped out by our own creation. Maybe then we'll be succeeded by something cool, like talking Pandabears.

(pst it was made in die niederlande)

Wait...wait..wait..I totally saw this in a movie once with that guy in it

I am now going to make the argument for producing something like this being a good idea.

Lets say that Hitler (who in our story is alive and represents any malevolent person with power) calls up the UN and says "Ich hat manufactured ein flu virus zat will destroy half of zie people of die Earth if mein demands are nein fulfilled." The UN can be in one of two situations:

A) They have never researched such a thing because it is evil. They do not know if Hitler is telling the truth, or what to do about it if he is.

B) They have been researching artificial viruses for decades and have many different varieties sitting in labs. They know what resources Hitler would need to produce such a thing, and they already have many clues about how to counteract it.

I should stress that this is different from a nuclear deterrence policy in that we are not mass producing these viruses, only researching them. This is still dangerous, but not as dangerous as allowing somebody less ethical than ourselves to have free reign over such research.

So, they hit their hammers on stuff until science happened?

I knew 28 Days Later was on to something.Only a matter of time now...

Ah shit, why Holland?  Sorry Guys:(

Fucking assholes... What the hell is up with this. Why...

Man, I knew they really wanted to get rid of the weed-tourism, but I didn't know they wanted it that bad.

Obviously this is a good idea. There are almost never any accidental explosions in science labs these days.

Sensationalist headlines are sensationalist.

I'd be more worried about the Ebola, Dengue Fever and SmallPox they have stored. As long as they aren't idiots with it, it'll be fine. More than anything, it's the diseases we can't identify that we should be worried about. We recreated the Spanish Flu that wiped out millions in the early 1900s simply so we could study it.

That's alright by me, because I know I will survive.

I love being a hermit.

Do it pussies!

Flu? FLU?! Come on guys! Instead of making another flu, make some zombie virus or something!

Sheesh, scientists today...

Though some might rightfully argue that a virus is not alive, I find the notion that we have synthsized a working organism amazing.

Ehh... The only part that is weird to me if the part where it says they are arguing whether to publish the recipe, which is fucking crazy. Why give terrorists another weapon for free?

I'm sure they had a very good reason for inventing this stuff...

2012 is coming , that is all

Attention grabbing headline wins again!

Hello post-apocalypse. Let's do this thing!

I am heading toward Boulder Co. now to meet Mother Abigail. See the rest of you survivors there.