Just how different are objects and agents? Some developers consider agents to be objects, but with more bells and whistles. This approach tends to define agents beginning with the phrase, "An agent is an object that ..."—where the definers add their favorite discriminating features. Then, there are those who see agents and objects as different even though they share many things in common. Both ...

'Does this virus have the power to conquer the whole world?' was how the Daily Express flagged one of its first articles on the virus(es) responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). 'As if war and terrorism were not enough, a terrified world now has a new threat to contend with — a mystery illness that is spreading around the world from the Orient,' said the Daily Mail. 'The sympt...

Introduction: A variety of spectroscopic techniques have revealed that variations in functional group chemistry of insoluble organic matter (IOM) among the groups and sub-types of chondrites sensitively respond to secondary processes, including aqueous alteration [1] and thermal metamorphism [2]. However, such variations are minimal within the same meteorite group [3], unlike mineralogical stud...