Do you think he should have been shot dead? In the UK at least the taser is presented as a non-lethal alternative to a traditional firearm, which seems entirely reasonable, yet the reality is that it's used to control and punish with pain.

It was reasonable for the cop to pull the guy over and ask to see his documents, and I distinctly heard the guy say "hold on while I find them!", but too late, Mr Cop has already seen red, he's angry and he's going to punish you. The cop has the right to defend himself, but he doesn't have the right to judge and sentence you.

I live in the UK, and I'm a law-abiding citizen. I don't hate the police, and don't rebel against authority just for the sake of it. Whenever I discuss tazers with my folks they make the argument that if your not doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear. Is this the case?

Are aging and growing the same thing?

I have fond memories of watching The Littlest Hobo on Sunday mornings at home with my brother. It was always the first show on after children's TV finished, that and other classics like the A-Team. This is brilliant.

Good work, that was definately worth fixing

*dead

Yes, up-vote for the description The right caption can really double the comedy value of a video, the "Dog Malfunction" one being a great example.

It's on (just).

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

According to the website it's being bought online tonight, and there's a live webcast of the process from 12am UTC.

This is excellent, although it doesn't go it to a lot of detail it gives a good sense of perspective.

Music by Basil Poledouris, mostly Anvil of Crom from the Conan the Barbarian films.

*dead

He's "fully functional".

The inspiration for Red Dwarf? Watch it.

*commercial

Hello Folks,

I'm from the UK and so at the risk of getting flamed I thought I'd throw my two pence in...

I nearly posted yesterday to say how I couldn't believe the attention this video has received considering how trivial a matter it seems to be.

Admittedly there is some douche-baggery on the part of the police – sticking their noses in quite unnecessary as far as I can see – but the cameraman is melodramatic to say the least.

Someone however made a very good point to me this evening which made me reconsider.

He pointed out that as of February 2009 it's illegal to film the police in the UK, and that while this matter might seem trivial in and of itself, consider the recent film from the London G20 protests.

Despite being present in huge numbers the mainstream media initially missed the case of the chap who was hit with a police baton whilst on his way home from work and later died.

Similarly they failed to report on the case of the female protester who was hit with a police baton, if not entirely unprovoked then at least out of proportion to what was appropriate.

The point was that if it were not for the amateur film makers then it's likely neither of these cases would have come to light, and this shows what an important right it is to film the police.

So I stand self-corrected. I still think the incident shown in this video is kind of trivial, but the rights the film maker is exercising are surely not!

Finally I just wanted to add that my experience of the police here in the UK has been pretty good. While I have at times seem arrogance and douche baggery, for surely power corrupts, for the most part I have to say that I've found the police to be restrained and highly professional.

I guess the point though is that with the power and responsibility the police have you only need one exception for it to be a huge problem for the rights of the individual.

Anyway, just my thoughts...

From what she described it ought to be possible not only to develop a broad spectrum drug that inhibits group behaviour in all species of bacteria, but also (very) species specific inhibitors. That sounds like very precise medicine to me. Also remember it's only the group behaviours which are inhibbited, the bacteria's individual functions should be unaffected.

Also, and perhaps more importantly in the short-term, even if you did need to take the drug for longer or even indefinitely, if it really doesn't cause selection in favour of drug resistant strains then that would be more acceptable than with traditional anti-biotic drugs.

I thought she presented her ideas very clearly and with a great deal of enthusiasm; if several sifters had an emotional response to this video then I suspect it was in response to the emotion in her voice. How odd that science is so often portrayed as cold-hearted and dispassionate.

Best post I've seen in a long time, kudos.

PS) She's hot!