mike, if you read the paper (which is published in Physical Review Letters) you will find that their research is the first one to find the influence of human activity in the propagation of information.

Sometimes a short article like this is not the full story.

Another group of people got paid to do a study like this, again? Wow.

Can I do a study to see how many times the same type of study with a slightly different twist can get funding and media attention?

I'd love to see a Snopes filter for Thunderbird (though would be more use for Outlook Express, obviously). 99% of the bollocks-looking emails I ever receive from well-intentioned numpties (even the ones that they claim they've checked) can be found within 5 seconds on Snopes and other hoax-busting websites. For some users this should be as essential a software add-on as anti-virus or firewall.

and they are, then there are some people who are Typhoid Marys.

I am talking about the gullible "well intentioned" sort who propopgate guilt or sentiment targeted emails. They become known to each other and feed each other drivel. They become a network of benevolent lolcatz spammers, or an army of jingoistic bots controlled by sentiment yet free of censure.

These people need to be educated or rather I want them to be educated and stop sending me retarded BS!