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"Encounter 2001" To Send Human DNA To Space
Scoria writes: "CNN dot com reports that the Houston based company Encounter 2001 will ship a part of your DNA to space in 2003 for $50. They're apparently hoping that aliens will find the "message" that they send.
The ship will use solar sails the size of a football field as its primary accelerator and will take fifteen years to pass Pluto, at which point it will be travelling at 7.8 miles a second.
Pioneer 10, alternately, is currently moving at 7.605936 miles (12.24 km)/sec.
There are 4.5 million total slots, go make sure that there are in fact geeks in space!"
Or, what if "helpful" aliens thought the probe was a plea for help sent by another earth species and that the DNA was of a harmful species? Would they send help?
Ok, folks. Let's imagine following:
We send out dna to space, everyone's happy, nothing ever seems to happen, etc. Then, after some few hundred years or so, there is first contact to an alien race, and we find out they're using our species as slaves. Cloned from the very dna we sent out ourselves. How would you feel? What would you do? Fight for freedom of the slaves, eh?
Lesson of the story: If it's sent out to them, it's a gift, and not even shrink-wrap licenses packed up with the stuff can stop them from doing with it what they want to.
label the containers: "This is us" (full of human DNA samples) and: "This is what we like to eat" (full of animal DNA samples) This will probably drive all those lama-faced aliens so mad into killing us, they'll develop a superstrain virus to kill all humans.
Kodos: Those humans are acting up again. Now they are sending up biological information about themselves.
Kang: Let me see the samples. Oh no! What a despicable tub of goo. Let's determine the identity connected to each of the humans that contributed to this goo. Hopefully there will be enough information in there to uniquely identify every single one. We can use these humans as slaves in our mining camps!
Kodos: Excellent!
How do you prevent degradation of the DNA in space? What are the assembly instructions like? Is there a use for DNA, or is it even recognizable as biological instructions, outside of a cellular context? Wouldn't you need a biological container, or stem cells, or something?
Wordnik, a dictionary project which aims to collect
Their fall to Spain was much more due to their lack of immunity to smallpox than anything the Spanish intentionally did.
What politically correct stuff you've been reading? The Inca's were defeated before they even had a chance of contracting any diseases.
They were defeated by Pizarro, the first Spaniard that went over there with only 180 soldiers, to explore mostly, and then realized that they either had to fight or be had.
The Spaniards faced an army of 80000 Incan soldiers, and things looked grim for them. But they managed to pull off their ambitious plan of striking panic in the Incan ranks. It succeeded so well, that they used the same tactic in several following battles where they were similarly outnumbered.
That was the end of the vast Incan empire. In a matter of weeks. No time for any diseases to spread.
I guess Spinrad had to have been a very good writer to be able to turn out something that painfully bad on purpose.
Now Dalton Trumbo's "Night of the Aurochs", on the other hand, apparently was intended to be good (like a bunch of his other stuff) and unfortunately it really wasn't.
For a well-written book about Nazi's by someone who really knew his stuff, try William L. Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". Too bad it's not fiction.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
"She was merely helping me prepare a specimen for a science project. Anybody got a fifty I can borrow? I left my wallet in my pants."
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
He's probably thinking of the Carib. They contracted European illnesses (that they had no defense for) very quickly.
Everyone knows that you don't send valuable things in the mail. The postman might take it. You might as well put a hundred dollar bill in there with the check.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
Dawg-gone-it. Someone beat me to it.
I remember reading it in Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions collection (or was it in D. V. Again, I forget.) Very early Seventies, I think. I remember ROTFLMAO about the arguments on how to spell ``jism''.
--
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
I believe this was the premise of the movie
"Species".
Scientists on Mars have recently decoded the message beamed back from the region of Alpha Centauri. After five years of research and computation, the message reads: "Thanks for the snack".
this space intentionally left blank
I reckon that they should also provide a represensitive amount DNA of animals from our planet. Maybe even the DNA of a simple food chain. The idea is that it would give any aliens an idea of what other life forms exist on the planet. If both land animals and see animals were included, it could be one way of explaining that we have both sea and land coverage.
The ideal would be some sort of Noah's Ark, as imagined in Titan A.E., but in reality lets start with something reasonable by todays technology.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Rubbish. Jesus had several children by Mary Magdalene, and ran off to china, leaving his brother to die on the cross...
Choice of masters is not freedom.
I can think a better use of $50 to insure that your genes get propagated. It's called asking out that cute girl in class, taking her to a fancy restaurant, then knocking her up.
Not politically correct. I glossed over some of the detail of other issues, but this is factually correct.
There was a raging civil war in the Inca empire at the time of Pizarro's conquest. Specifically, Atahuallpa Inca was gaining dominance over Huascar for control of the Inca Empire at the time of Pizarro's fourth mission. Pizarro had gone on three exploratory excursions beginning in 1524. (You'll see references to two missions, and his successful invasion as the "third" visit because the first expedition in 1524 never actually got to any part of the Inca empire.)
The civil war was a fight over who would ascend the throne after both Huayna-Capac, the ruling Inca, and his heir, Ninan Cuyuchi died. On one of the earlier Spanish missions, smallpox had been introduced, and swept through the country. Both Huayna-Capac and Ninan Cuyuchi died of smallpox.
The famous fourth mission, in 1532, is where Pizarro landed around Tumbez, on the northern coast. Tumbez was a ruin, destroyed by the civil war. Reinforcements followed Pizarro, and he began his conquest with 168 men and somewhere around 60 horses.
From Tumbez, Pizarro & co headed south into the mountains towards Cajamarca. Around that same time, Atahuallpa's forces captured Huascar outside of Cuzco, and Atahuallpa was heading back to the capital. Both sides were demoralized by losses from both disease and battle. On the journey to Cajamarca, Pizarro successfully recruited locals who were loyal to Huascar to join his army.
When they met Atahuallpa's army, the Spanish played a trick on the Atahuallpa's ambassadorial mission, and kidnapped Atahuallpa and killed his bodyguards. There was no large-scale conflict between the armies at this point.
Here's where it gets very political and drawn out. Atahuallpa tries to ransom himself with a room filled with gold. Eventually, Pizarro has him murdered. During this period, however, Huascar's supporters were not idle, and were allying with various local tribes who had been oppressed by the Incas (like the Imara).
There were numerous battles with varying groups, and the Inca empire was pretty much crushed.
The event you're talking about, was during a final rebellion against the Spanish in 1536, where Manco Inca raised a huge army to attach the Spanish in Cuzco. This is where the badly outnumbered Spanish managed to break out of the siege on horseback and then quickly counterattacked the Inca army at Sacsayhuaman. This was, as you say, a stunning victory due to strategy, luck, and superior weaponry. It was not, however, how the Conquistadors took over the Empire.
(Similarly, when Cortez took over Mexico City earlier, smallpox was killing over 1,000 Aztecs per day. The demoralizing effect of this, coupled with the Spanish armor, guns, and apparent immunity to the disease, all contributed to his victory.)
bukra fil mish mish
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Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
Good God, man! New World Produce is the sole legitimate differentiator of civilized and uncivilized.
I'd go off on a lengthy screed about the spread of the peanut, chocolate, coffee, potatos, triticale, and so on, but I've already been labelled "politically correct," so I'll just shut up now.
bukra fil mish mish
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Monitor the Web, or Track your site!
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
This story, incidently, is supposed to be the first entry into the Library of Congress that has the word "Fuck" in its title.
bukra fil mish mish
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Monitor the Web, or Track your site!
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
The Incas were far from "primitive." They had metallurgy, architecture, and over 103 species of potato. They did lack gunpowder.
Their fall to Spain was much more due to their lack of immunity to smallpox than anything the Spanish intentionally did.
Then there are the Maori of New Zealand. They didn't have gunpowder or metal, but they invented what became modern trench warfare and seriously kicked ass until the British resorted to the Treaty and Treachery technique.
By and large, though, the success of Western Imperialism owes at least as much to disease as it does technology.
bukra fil mish mish
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Monitor the Web, or Track your site!
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
Shouldn't that have come under "spam"? :)
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
4.5 million times 50. Wow, thats $225,000,000. I wonder what their incentives are!
You're not taking into account freebies for friends, and of course for celebrities for the promotional value! Call that 2000 people, that's a whole $100,000 they'll be missing out on...
deus does not exist but if he does
and of course for celebrities for the promotional value!
:)
Just what we need, aliens cloning our boy bands...
And this is different from current pop music how, exactly?
deus does not exist but if he does
sniff, sniff!!!
"Phew, I'm guessing it's some kind of alien contraceptive. Used, apparently."
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
well i thought it was funny.. if it was only $25 i'd do it.. anyone wanna go halfs? im sure it will probably burn-up in some star anyhow.. i just hope the Ma'gogg dont find out where it came from.. eeeek!
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!
I'd be incredibly careful that my name is in no way associated with my DNA. The last thing I want is these folks turning around and selling it to who knows who so that they can eventually parse my DNA and know whole loads of stuff about me. If you were prone to bladder infections, and didn't even know it (I'm not btw, afaik), would you want some company knowing that you were and spamming you with bladder-infection medicine (or whatever) just before you're scheduled to start getting them. Or perhaps they could sell it to insurance companies. Anyway, read the license carefully.
I would consider it, but they should include copies of DMCA and UCITA, and shrink wrap the DNA. I wouldn't want some skanky alien bitch to reverse engineer me, and use me for her sex slave.
Any alien race sufficiently advanced to travel the interstellar distances to reach us will be able to do whatever they please to us, DNA or no.
In fact, we'd probably be beneath their notice. What can we, stuck on this pitiful rock, offer to a race that can span stars and mine asteroids? (Other than amusement, of course).
Witness the results of every encounter between advanced human races and primitives (like the Spaniards and the Incas). It almost always ends up VERY poorly for the primitives (Japan was a notable exception).
Marc Siry || interactive media professional, motorcycle enthusiast ||
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CAIMLAS
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Haven't you learned that security through obscurity doesn't work?
I don't need large brains to have a good time.
Would the above have been on topic if it mentioned The Boys from Brazil?
Simply follow these instructions: Duplicate the enclosed genetic material using a polymerase chain reaction. Incubate one copy of the resulting DNA of the PCR reaction for 10 seconds in a in an accelerated artificial womb set to a ratio of 2,371,680:1, then decant. Email the resulting organism (a "human") to the name at the top of the list attached below (using standard MIME matter encoding and transmission protocols.) Delete the email address at the top of the list, and add your own at the bottom. Send as many copies of this letter, along with copies of the PCR-duplicated DNA, to as many of your friends, znarmates, and for that matter complete strangers as you can. By the miracle of geometric progression, in no time at all THOUSANDS of "humans" will come your way. BUT: Don't break the chain! Fribnar-belzapsle of Barnard's Star II broke the chain, and was promptly diced by a malfunctioning frebble. Threequietchimes of Lalande 21185 IX broke the chain and was voted to be that week's consumption member of his local colony group. For that matter, brainnode 0x3f2b9877d of epsilon Eridani VI broke the chain, and their entire planet was promptly turned to grey goo by runaway nanomachines. But I followed the instructions, and in less than 30 kiloseconds I was the proud owner of over 300 extremely musical, fertilizer-producing, delectably-regurgitating young humans! So act now! Here is the list, make sure you add names:
belzar@massquan.com.wolf359b iz .eta -cassiopeiae
m cc affrey
colonysegment-alpha-14@qwr.edu.ev-lacertae
napkinnumeratordrone376@workcubiclemegafarm452.
snat@frelb.org.yzceti
439angstroms@bluelight.com.rigel
duckmouthfence@picosquish.com.vega
ratpizzle@goatse.ax-microscopium
10010100111101001@001110100100.1001.binar
powersthatbe@overusedsentientplanetformula.com.
Hazard of editing in a different window and then pasting. After too many hours and no sleep.
Simply follow these instructions: Duplicate the enclosed genetic material using a polymerase chain reaction. Incubate one copy of the resulting DNA of the PCR reaction for 10 seconds in a in an accelerated artificial womb set to a ratio of 2,371,680:1, then decant. Email the resulting organism (a "human") to the name at the top of the list attached below (using standard MIME matter encoding and transmission protocols.) Delete the email address at the top of the list, and add your own at the bottom. Send as many copies of this letter, along with copies of the PCR-duplicated DNA, to as many of your friends, znarmates, and for that matter complete strangers as you can. By the miracle of geometric progression, in no time at all THOUSANDS of "humans" will come your way. BUT: Don't break the chain! Fribnar-belzapsle of Barnard's Star II broke the chain, and was promptly diced by a malfunctioning frebble. Threequietchimes of Lalande 21185 IX broke the chain and was voted to be that week's consumption member of his local colony group. For that matter, brainnode 0x3f2b9877d of epsilon Eridani VI broke the chain, and their entire planet was promptly turned to grey goo by runaway nanomachines. But I followed the instructions, and in less than 30 kiloseconds I was the proud owner of over 300 extremely musical, fertilizer-producing, delectably-regurgitating young humans! So act now! Here is the list, make sure you add names:
belzar@massquan.com.wolf359
colonysegment-alpha -14@qwr.edu.ev-lacertae
napkinnumeratordrone376@w orkcubiclefarm452.biz.eta -cassiopeiae
snat@frelb.org.yzceti
439angstroms@ bluelight.com.rigel
duckmouthfence@picosquish.com .vega
ratpizzle@goatse.ax-microscopium
100101001 11101001@001110100102.1001.binar
powersthatbe@ove rusedsentientplanetformula.com.mcc affrey
Some wag will make their message
"All your base are belong to us."
and start an intergalactic incident. Just fantastic.
ceci n'est pas un sig.
ENCOUNTER 2001 IS PEOPLE!
- Todd
P.S. The lameness filter thinks that my message has too much all-caps. So, please disregard this lowercase text. 8-)
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho
Okay so I just went and watched "Evolution" (this is on topic) and well... I know it was a comedy in all but here's the lowdown. We send out DNA into space. The "aliens" can't figure out how it works cause it doesn't make any humans. But, as a gesture of good faith they send some of their "DNA" to us. We die. Great. Doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
Is this another bizarre US media euphemism for presidential bodily fluids? :D
I'm sorry, but this is too much like the climax (so to speak) of the novel-within-a-novel in Norman Spinrad's The Iron Dream for my comfort level.
I decided that behaving ethically was the most nihilistic thing I could do. - Paul Pavel
Odds of this hitting any sort of planet are about a billion to one, and then odds of an alien race finding it are about a trillion to one. Evil ailens ate my sig...
Why do we have this collective image of the freindly peace loving alien? I think because its the opposite of the sci-fi 'big bad monster' archetype, but I seriously doubt either are true. If you're curious about what aliens would do with your DNA imagine if the US just got its greedy little hands on some alien DNA. It wouldn't be pretty. I doubt politics, national interests and security, economics, and warfare are just human creations.
Also, did you know that there are cute, young college aged girls that live near you who are lonely and want to meet men. Please help these girls out, by giving them a call at 1-900-ALL-BASE. (1.59/minute).
Someone you trust is one of us.
I am willing to spend $50 on this just to throw in my support for commercial space exploration. Solar sails are a great idea that NASA has not yet explored, and I'm glad to see someone trying it out.
Now you all know, that they will NOT sell all 4.5 million of these things. How big is this ship anyway?
I think of the physical aspects of projects like this are, at this point in our space-enabled-life, fairly inconsequential, but we should be thinking about it. however, the more troubling aspect is the idea of sending DNA across space and time, not really knowing if it could be considered a pollutant to other places, other life-forms, or even back to us.
So the meanderings of my mind put together a few events. First, there is a belief that life might have started on this planet from basic building blocks deposited via asteroids. There is a fairly decent sized debate regarding the real/possible/potential up/down-side of geneticaly modified food. So if you take these two together, is there any chance that a project like this could backfire?
The fair counterpoint is that there could also be some sort of windfall effect from this also...
Hmmm... take an alien culture that's advanced enough to understand DNA, and what do you think they're going to do with it? Yeah, grow us some humans! Now the prospect of a clone of me making it with some alien chick is a bit... interesting, but there's an equal prospect that these aliens would just as soon clone me up to eat me. Hmmmm...
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
The problem with this is that we are giving the evil aliens the blueprints of our species. There is the chance, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness... and exploit it.
They can't do that, it's illegal under the DMCA!
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec
So your hair follicle will be frozen solid and blasted into oblivion by cosmic rays over the millenia. Big deal. What everybody really wants is to get to space alive. I've had an idea for quite some time that could be expanded to cover this option ... and adding YOUR VERY OWN DNA (YVOD, registered trademark) might just provide the funding required....Basically, there are some bacteria that love heat and acid, and Venus just happens to have that environment in cloud droplets at 40-50 Km. So let's get space colonization underway and send these little guys on the ride of their life. Before they go, we could add plasmids spliced with YVOD (tm) and instead of inert frozen DNA, it would actually be active in the bacteria, contributing to its evolution and creation of the Venesian ecosphere by expression of your non-bacterial proteins. This isn't a nutty idea, already there is bacterial ecosystems being discovered in Earth's clouds. Any remaining dot-com millionaires out there who want to provide seed (pun) funding, I actually AM a rocket scientist and would love to get a project based on this idea (minus the plasmids, even) off the ground....or even just start a discussion about it.
"It's a cookbook!!!"
No sig? Sigh...
Space quests are still risky, certainly when it's beyond Pluto, furthermore, why would I want some jack-ass alien to clone me?
--
Bizar technology?
I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm a direct descendant of Jesus.
When I was four, watching men walk on the moon, and for years later, I wanted nothing more than to grow up and be an astronaut. A very small part of me still does.
And now, hey, now a very small part of me can be part of the first interstellar human hairball! Sign me up, while I've still got hair to contribute!
isn't the earth enough as contaminated by humans?
www.vhemt.org
if I can only figure out which part of DNA makes me 'full of shit' ... I woulnd't mind to send it to aliens.
Encounter 2001 will ship a part of your DNA to space
Just part of it? Will it also come with a message that says:
Thank-you for trying humans. If you enjoy them, you should consider registering them. What are the advantages of registration? With the full version, you get reproductive capability and higher learning. As an added bonus, we include hair-color changer and genital resizing programs.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Having developed launch capabilities, the hairless water-ape now launches its spores into space. That completes the cycle of the amino acid based carbon chemistry life form. Be sure to tune in next millenium for another exciting edition of Mutual of Andromeda's Wild Universe.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
A working solar sail design would be vastly useful in the development of space resources... after we make access to LEO cheap enough to make the technology relevant .
"Research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." -- Wernher von Braun
We send out a satellite filled with our DNA and the Kligon Empire uses it for target practice. There goes fifty bucks!
...or maybe not.
What if these aliens are so bright that they take our DNA and clone one of us. NOW we will be able to say geek in space :)
and of course for celebrities for the promotional value!
Just what we need, aliens cloning our boy bands...
4.5 million times 50. Wow, thats $225,000,000. I wonder what their incentives are! Anyway, it does cost a lot to build space crafts so maybe it will mostly be offset by that.
Andrew
"The last thing we should be doing is sending our grotesquely distorted DNA out into space." - George Carlin
Men believe what they want. - Caesar
And if they find it they may use it as target practice, ala Klingons blowing up space junk in Star Trek - Voyage Home.
Or it comes back to rid the planet of that pesky human infestation... (V'Ger, Star Trek - The Motion Picture)
I thought that proteins were the executable.
So basically the Human Genome Project is just one big show of reverse engineering? ISn't that against the law in the US????
;-)
tada
if (!signature) { throw std::runtime_error("No sig!"); }
Everyone will suffer, but the lawyers... hmmm, *must* be hell!!!
ouch!!
if (!signature) { throw std::runtime_error("No sig!"); }
Actually I once read a sci-fi story. The basic premise was that the aliens went around taking samples of peoples DNA. Trouble was they were carnivores, but civilised. So, they grew a clone of you, and then... dinner time... everyone was happy. I think.
So, Hey Alien! Want a sample of MY DNA. I don't think so... You want some, you suck on this! Keep your filthy tentacles off me and my cloned buddies...
;-)
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"So the aliens will get our DNA, ok. They'll clone us, raise a few baby clones, and find out that we're ugly.
Don't be surprised when a few alien battlecruisers stop by to destroy this planet of ugly humans.
"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
"
People on the Earth get an average natural radiation exposure of about 1.7 mSv per year[..]
[In the Space Shuttle] the worst case[..] 112 times the natural exposure on Earth.
"
Near Chernobyl ~ 10 mSv per year.
--
Futile and no-one will find it
or; dangerous, handing over our DNA to unknown intelligent aliens
'There is a Light that never goes out.'
$225,000,000.
Methinks that they don't give a shit about sending stuff to aliens, but making a few $ while trying to see whether the solar sail concept really works.
Lets be, well, understanding that this is the USA and nothing happens if its not for money or personal gain.
Why was there a link to mission to mars there? I never saw it..
The slashdot 2 minute between postings limit: /.'ers since Spring 2001.
Pissing off hyper caffineated
1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcf
Kurt Vonnegut's story "The Big Space Fuck?"
...nuff said.
Honorary Member of Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Process Servers
The chances of an alien race happening to find this spacecraft are slim to none. It is more likely the space craft will be obliterated by an asteriod or some space rock then happening to fly by some space ship and getting detected by aliens. Lets all admit what this project is all about. Its a way of publicly funding a mission to test the concept a space sail.
I dont know about anyone else, but I'd let just about anyone use me as their sex slave... females only of course I wouldn't want some skanky alien bitch to reverse engineer me, and use me for her sex slave.
They are doing this to send out a large amount of genetic material out to the Martian/Jovial joint cloning program. They can then clone large amounts of people to smuggle back into the planet so that they can take over the planetary government by infiltrration without bothering to send a space fleet.
We got problems
;-)
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
And invade earth with our own clones ? 4.5 million is quite a formidable army.
Rapid Nirvana
12.24 km/sec does not equal 7.605936 miles/sec, even if you've got a conversion factor with a gazillion digits. The measurement has the same limited precision (4 digits in this case) no matter what units you use to express it.
Score: 1, Tiresome
One simple rule for its versus it's
What happened? Did Titan AE make it to HBO recently? Don't tell me.... the spacecraft will also run off of Windows 2000. It seems like we could find something better to do with space than use it as an intergalactic waste dump.
my guess is that if these aliens are advanced enough to travel all the way down here and whoop our behinds _and_ have the incentive to do so, they already have our DNA.
--
Assumption is the mother of all fuckups
Actually, it amazes me how little attention science fiction seems to have paid to the potential ease with which alien races could probably destroy each other using biological weapons.
I should probably take a class on particle physics before asking this buuut. Why trust a light source for a sail that uses photonic pressures that's going to be smaller than a penny and use like, stadium lighting instead? I mean, Solar panels could POWER it, and keep any power not used in a battery, or does solar light contain more than the average 15 watt bulb?
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Part of my DNA? Sheesh, for $50 they can at least send one whole nucleus.
(No wait, I get it. For $50 the aliens get the demo DNA, but if they want the whole thing they have to subscribe to a service...)
--Mike
"Not an actor, but he plays one on TV."
make your own fresh human from these instructions... or visit Earth and pick yourself up a free sample...
1) Aliens discover DNA bank probe travelling through space (aka needle in a haystack); or,
And if they find it they may use it as target practice, ala Klingons blowing up space junk in Star Trek - Voyage Home.Valuable science? Definitely not.
This thing is a real application of solar sail tech in 2 years time (!!) Thats valuable science in itself.
If you add some food and eggs along with the DNA, then you can count me in!
--- Sigmentation Fault - Comments Dumped
First saw these guys selling their concept at the Las Vegas Hilton. Outside the Star Trek Experience, where you can buy "Romulan Ale" they were selling the "kits" for you to attach your hair follicle and bit of poetry or whatever. Heard this on the news today, was surprised it was "news" since I first saw this being peddled 2 years ago.
What was that line again... oh yeah: a fool and his money are soon parted.
How exactly are they extracting that DNA sample again? And how are they getting it into space? I think I saw a Ron Jeremy movie like this years ago.
I was all set to ask how they're going to keep the stuff frozen.. out... in.... the..... cold...... of....... space........
Duh. Answered my own question.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
I just can't bear even thinking about it.
1) Aliens discover DNA bank probe travelling through space (aka needle in a haystack); or,
2) Aliens find Earth after having received over 100 years of beacon-like EM communication (radio, tv, etc).
I know which I think is the more likely scenario. (Hint: even number.)
A novel gift idea? Maybe. Valuable science? Definitely not.
You're right about the much greater likelihood of 2 rather than 1. But I think you're wrong about "Valuable Science." Think of Encounter 2001 as a test of an important new technology -- solar sails. Chafer et al. have come up with an interesting way to get ordinary people involved as sponsors of a test of a new space technology. If the test shows real promise, then their company can sell the technology to people who want to send various scientific probes around the solar system.
NASA should do this kind of technology testing? Perhaps they should. But even Congress is now aware of what a screwed up mess NASA is today. I think it's a good idea that the private sector is now stepping into this important field of endeavor -- and not just as government contractors.
"Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- B. Franklin
Why? Human DNA will look to any aliens like a string of random code - regardless of how advanced they are. Anyone who thinks DNA is a 'blueprint' for a human has been watching too many Hollywood movies.
DNA is a code that describes a *process* that happens to result in a baby human when carried out in a VERY specific environment (a female human!)
So unless we sent a woman along with it - they never be able to make any sense of it at all.
(or perhaps a very detailed knowledge base of a human - which we don't have yet)
Any volunteers?
/..sig file not found - permission denied.
Oh, I can see it now. A whole ARMY of Spacklers coming down from space to rule the world! I (as the original) would naturally be their leader. We would first take over, and then start cloning Natalie Portmans as our love slaves. Imagine the dDoS we could have at the DMV as we all went in for our license renewal. Fear me, or beer me you puny mono-people!
...is here in case someone would be really willing to pay them $50 for an illusion of space flight. They say Arthur C. Clarke already did.
I just jizz into a styrofoam cup and toss it in the mail with a check for $50?
A ships sails catch wind to carry it off, solar sails catch solar wind and carry it off - away from stars. The predominant winds in our solar system will carry the craft out into interstellar space - but then what?
If it begins to drift towards another star, won't the winds of that star just push it away? Won't this thing just end up in deep space forever far away from any potential civilizations?
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
how do we know that aliens won't interpret this as a virus-like form of agression?? if someone of another species tried to convince me to take their genetic material as a 'gift of goodwill', i would have to wonder if they really just wanted to take over my body and turn it into a factory for creating millions of them.
You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace.
Geeks: "Dont send out DNA into space, aliens will exploit us!"
Encounter 2001: "That is only theoretical"
Aliens: "Making the theoretical possible since 2003"
The Lottery:
"Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
Has anybody else read the short sci-fi story called "To serve man?"
This is a sample sig. Press F1 to personalize.
Is this a real article, or did someone get a sneak peak at a futurama episode.......hmm.......or it could just be a sloooww newsday........
DNA is less of a "source code" and more of an executable.
Great. So if I send them my DNA they're gonna execute me? No thanks.
Humans take rediculous precautions to prevent unknown extraterrestial materials infecting us. It is irresponsible and immoral to project the blueprints of our living matter into any possible extraterrestial environment.
send my dog's DNA to space? I hope aliens don't mind practical joke.
What if by some freak chance our DNA's mutated? Like in Crichton's book Andromeda Strain? That would be something.
"...Fear the people who fear your computer"
Weakness in the human genome? Never!
Why would jesus do that to us?
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The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. --Ben Franklin
The way I see it, this is the only way to increase the chances that an evil army of me-clones takes over the world.
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The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. --Ben Franklin
My guess would be that we're providing them cheap slave labor. Little do they know, that my clone will drive them insane with incessant whining.
Alien finds DNA capsules and pipes them into their high-speed DNA simulation program.
"Hmmm,", it says as it looks at a mature sample that looks like Bill Gates. "Ugh."
"Hmmm,", looking at another that looks like some other hideous octogenarian billionaire. "What a screwed up species if these are their best-developed beings."
Anyway, I concurr. Being a long-lived sex slave in a super-advanced intragalactic civilization is probably about the best thing that can happen to you. Instantaneous "surgical" procedures to alter your body into any shape desired, drugs to make that other person's (or thing's) stinky pheromones be the most arousing thing you could possibly imagine, drugs to install love, lust, crush, lust-crush, and all brought up to levels far more powerful than anything that might happen naturally. Doesn't sound like it's suck to me...
I am for the complete Trantorization of Earth.
...assuming, of course, there is no Intragalactic FDA.*
* "Protecting The People by causing many times more problems, suffering, injuries, and deaths than it has prevented for over 50 years."
I am for the complete Trantorization of Earth.
Yes, but I earn a dollar for every 70 cents you earn.
I am for the complete Trantorization of Earth.
I know! I hate the sad ending of The Matrix.
I am for the complete Trantorization of Earth.
DNA is less of a "source code" and more of an executable.
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
In my analogy, the protiens produced are like files saved by the executable, documents.
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
1) Aliens discover DNA bank probe travelling through space (aka needle in a haystack); or,
2) Aliens find Earth after having received over 100 years of beacon-like EM communication (radio, tv, etc).
I know which I think is the more likely scenario. (Hint: even number.)
A novel gift idea? Maybe. Valuable science? Definitely not.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
With an L, an A, an M, to the E!!!
Pluto is about 5.7E12 meters away. 15 years is about 4.7E8 seconds. That gives an average speed of 12 km/s (thats 7.6 miles/s for all non-SI people)
I strongly doubt the speed this thing has when passing pluto equals the average speed over the entire trip.
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Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
NASA is having problems funding the 'Pluto Express' mission. This could solve the dilemma. They should buy an X-10 camera for $69, pay these guys $3000 to strap it on this thing, and aim it at Pluto. Mission accomplished.
The problem with this is that we are giving the evil aliens the blueprints of our species. There is the chance, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness... and exploit it.
Why bother.
The aliens who find this DNA will surely use it to construct the ultimate supervirus to wipe out the entire human race, leaving us to rely solely on a band of rugged, Hollywood prettyboys to save the day. I smell James Cameron.
The One,
The Only,
--The Kid
the liberator who destroyed my property has realigned my perception
www.quantumheresy.com
Did I miss anything?
Imagine this, in a billion years or so, on some distant planet, someone discovers some 'fossilized' human bits that were sent on the rocket..... wondering if that was the cause of life on their planet.
Isn't this what happened when those martians sent their bacteria on that rock to earth?
===> An eye for an eye makes everyone blind - MG
How about making a VERY powerful transmitter, or many of those, that are targeted toward nearby stars. I mean, heck, it's going to improve the aliens' chance of finding us via their own seti-system.
--- Hajotkaa siihen, kapitalistit!
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Once: you're a philosopher. Twice: a pervert.
When I first heard of this, the alien warlord concept was the first thing that popped into my head too. But really, it is far more likely that the probe would be discovered by our descendants than some alien race. In a thousand years the human race will most likely either be dead or colonizing other star systems, if it's the latter then our genetic makeup may have been altered significantly. A probe full of pure DNA samples could provide an interesting biological baseline or at least anthropological study.
Of course, I'm still not sending them $50. But the concept kind of validates things for those who do.
I am not sure about this at all, as I have very little experience with solar sail technology, but wouldn't the sail start moving away from any sun it came close to? For instance, it is moving away from our sun because of the photon "wind" against the sail, so why would it come close enough to another civilization (assuming they are near a star)? Why woulnd't it just sit at a nice equlibrium point between x number of stars?
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"The universe is a womb for the genesis of gods."
Supreme Commander Vxnor: "Sub commander Rtlof, what are the results from your exploration of the alien spacecraft retrieved from the outer reaches of our solar system?" Commander Rflof: "Sir, our preliminary research found the capsule empty. However, the aliens left behind an assortment of snack food, including protien strands encased in a tasty and crunchy glass tube."
I really doubt that aliens would want to clone human beings for any purpose other than scientific experimentation. There are a lot of posts re: Alien's will clone us and make a slave race!, but if you think about it, would You clone an inherently rebellious and territorial species to be slaves?? If their technology is advanced enough to allow detection of a small (relatively speaking) object and cloning of a species with which they have had no direct contact, they could probably create their own custom species as a slave race (a race that wouldn't mind being slaves, and would be genuinely glad to be of service).
...
string* plamenessFilter =
*plamenessFilter = "Flaming Death!!";
This could be a new source of advertising space for marketing agencies. Thank of all the shampoo and perfume samples we can ship to the alien market.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This project is a fluke; an insult to the intelligence of our own race.
We are just now determining duration of habitation on this planet ---
we are the aliens.
"There ought to be limits to freedom"
Call me a paranoid shizofrenic alienophobic, but I damn won't give some pantsy-ass aliens my DNA.
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If those alien dudes are smart, they'll send back sterile cloned Kenau Reeves or Leonardo DiCaprio lookalikes, and we all know what that'll lead to: no more reproduction.
I think no species in it's right mind should send the most intimate information about their genetic buildup into space, that's just too naief.
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Living is a way of life
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"The chances of a demonic possession spreading are remote -- relax."
Just think! In thirty years time we will be waging war with a hideous alien genetic mutation of CowBoyNeal... Take me to your goats.cx!
Boris will.
I'm looking at this two ways: 1) Either the aliens are gonna be friendly, and we really shouldn't be insulting them by sending out the DNA of people here dumb enough to sheel out 50 spods to do said thing. or 2) The aliens are evil people who will, from examining the DNA will assume we're all either Jerry hicks or skinny tech spods and will thus send a totally unprepared force of Mr Muscle (UK reference) types to sort us out. Any thoughts?
The article said that "part of your DNA" would be sent. What good is just a part? Even if all the different parts added up to a full genome, it still wouldn't be sufficient to "clone" a human.
;-)
Anyway, how are we certain that an aliens know what DNA is, or how to decode it? Or that the DNA would last however many millenia it would take for the probe to get to the "aliens"?
Those people worried about being cloned by malicious aliens seem paranoid.
After seeing this message I've concluded you're an alien reading my mind!
;)
Hmm DNA profile linked to your credit card profile... cross referenced against future thought-crimes.
Maybe CNN meant NSA not NASA?
Slashdot: Everything in Moderation, including Moderation itself.
It gained instant notoriety for being the first "mainstream" story to use "fuck" in the title. Quite racy for the '60s (or whenever it was he wrote it.)
I think he'd be very disappointed that any moron's jizz could get a ride on the rocket for $50. Either that or very, very amused!
What's the big deal, isn't it just going back to where it came from? I mean so what if an alien civilization finds our DNA, more than likely they wrote in in the first place. But I'm sure they'd be interested in seeing the progress of their eons-old little science project...but then again who'd start an experiment and not keep checking up on it...PERSONALLY...
Where's the courage here? Come on, we're sending 2002 technology full of geek dna... It'll be powered by linux, they'll think we're low-tech, chubby worshipers of retarded looking pengiuns. Now that's where the surprise comes in... We've got a couple of decades to get ready and trounce their little alien butts. Sure they might be friendly, but if we take them by surprise maybe we can get one of those zippy spacecraft they have... And if not, well... ummm, at least it was a good try Count Long Live La Resistance!!!
If we cannot yet modify the source code for the purposes of security, should we be making the code available to the universe at large ?