Matt Yglesias

Panda Attack

Via Brian Beutler, a tale of a near-deadly panda attack:

[T]he student was bitten on the arms and legs. Two foreign visitors who saw the attack ran to get help from workers at a nearby refreshment stand, who notified park officials, the employee said.
The student was pale as he was taken away by medics but appeared clear-headed, he said.

“Yang Yang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him. I didn’t expect he would attack,” the 20-year-old student, surnamed Liu, said in a local hospital, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Attacks aside, pandas are super-cute. A photo from my last trip to the zoo:

No attacks that afternoon.

Today in Panda Science

Scientists working in China have announced the completion of the project to sequence the entire giant panda genome. That’s perhaps good news for panda fans such as myself everywhere. At the same time, one has to worry about the possibility of China arming itself with advanced, genetically enhanced panda warriors. Initially, they’ll disarm and confuse their opponents with massive cuteness. But then, just as enemy soldiers are busy trying to take snapshots, they enter panda attack mode.

Something along the lines of Kung Fu Panda is definitely something to be concerned about.