Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Science Meets Science Fiction: Human-Animal Hybrids are possible!

Sounds something from the X-Files, doesn't it?! But it's true. Read on...
Not many people enjoy-or even want to tolerate-Science Fiction works. To each his own, I guess. I'm a big SciFi fan myself, as previously blogged. I enjoy how Scifi reflects the borderline between human imagination and scientific achievements. If you think about it, many avenues of technology we consume and use in our daily lives are either offshoots of science fiction or a result of it. Scientists like Einstein, Oppenheimer, Heisenberg,

For example,
Jules Verne , H.G. Wells , and my favorite Scifi author, Isaac Asimov, have all been termed the "Fathers of Science Fiction" in one time or another. Their novels have inspired scientists and inventors to come one step closer to such Human achievements like Space Exploration, the Appolo moon landings, the Skylab project, the Hubble Space Telescope, underground dwelling concepts as a deterrent to Nuclear wars, Undersea dwellings for research, even the creation of Robotics, Bio-mechanics and Quantum Physics as new fields of science, to name a few examples.

Another example, take the Star Trek Teleportation Devices, where people are 'beamed' from the spaceship to another with the kind assistance of Scotty!!
Research has shown that at some point in quantum mechanics, it had actually been created in a lab, using sub-atomic particles of light, but nevertheless, it's proved the theory!

Again, taking a Star Trek adaptation, Warp Speed.
New research based on previous research has proven-in theory-that Warp speed, or FTL (faster-than-light) travel may be possible, and that it's simply a matter of enough energy generated to enact this in fact, and the invention of 'exotic matter' to build the engines...not far off, but one step closer!
Another popular SciFi literature, Buck Rogers, utilized Einsteins paper 'On the Quantum Theory of Radiation' initiated - albeit loosely - the concept of the Ray Gun, or the Laser, which is being used in different ways, even right now on our CD/DVD devices.
My point is, with imagination and creativity, science can re-create science fiction. But what this report shows is sheer imagination in practice!! Imagine humans cross-bred with animals, and you'll see what I mean. The Ethical problems alone outweigh any Religious decisions to begin with, but it's research drawn from a creative community of scientists, inspired by Creative works like Science Fiction.
Of course, the scientists discuss the research as a tool to find out how Stem Cells can be manipulated more efficiently to suite humanity. Again, drawing from Science Fiction, and more closely, Star Trek's "Eugenics Wars". (I just HAD to put that in there!!)
Dream on...maybe we can find someone that can alter the weather so it'll be a standar 23 degrees celsuis all year :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted be a cat :D

Intlxpatr said...

I always check commenters to be sure they are legit. Dangerous business, checking your site - I got lost for half an hour. I LOVE Sci-Fi, and oh, do I have an author and book for you:

'The Ballad of Lost C'Mell' by Cordwainer Smith

His books are magical, and he posits exactly the human-animal hybrids you are talking about, and the ramifications of their existence.

I copied this from a website:
He died in 1966, just as his fame was beginning to blossom. And that was when it became known that Cordwainer Smith was a pseudonym for Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, a scholar, a diplomat, a spy, a military man, and more.

Amazon cite:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-5028485-1095246?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Cordwainer+Smith&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go

There are some interesting parallels with imported labor in Gulf countries.