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Dolphin Jumps Again with Artificial Fin
Ant writes "This Yahoo! News story mentions Fuji, a mother dolphin that lost 75 percent of her tail due to a mysterious disease, being able to jump again with the help of what is believed to be the world's first artificial fin. The 34-year-old dolphin held at Japan's largest aquarium in the southern island of Okinawa wears the rubber fin for about 20 minutes a day allowing her to jump and to swim at the same speed of other dolphins."
First Porpoise!
Not looking forward to artificial fin chunks in my Tuna sandwich
I expected that dolphin to be red with 'Marlboro', 'Shell' and 'Vodafone' painted on its other fins...
our bionic dolphin masters.
I ASKED for FREAKING LAZERS damnit... Whats a guy supposed to do around here?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/3 754310.stm
Hmmm?
Rock beats scissors
Paper covers rock
Scissors cuts paper
Dolphin eats plastic
Got it?
No they can't do that! This is their attempt to rebalance the karma loss from continued hunting (I mean research) of whales. It would be plain wrong to kill a defective animal for food when there are bigger healthier ones to eat (I mean research).
-- Instant Karma's gonna get you! [320848 = 2*2*2*2*11*1823]
...that wearing this fin for too long makes the dolphin tyred.
Well, its not as if they went out and found a physically challenged wild dolphin, and laughing at Darwin, gave it an artificial fin. This was a captive dolphin that contracted a disease and lost some finnage. That's hardly a natural situation, and I don't think the long-term genetic health of the species will be affected.
Trolls: The high-tech version of those morons that scrawl obscenities in public bathrooms.
every year there are a few people with artificial legs at the boston marathon.
and these people can run faster than the typical human. but not fast enough to win, some really thin guy from kenya always does that.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
There are more photos in the page of the Aquarium (in Japanese) Chura Umi Aquarium
Dolphins have been given artificial flippers on several occasions before this.
So long, and thanks for all the fins.
- "They misunderestimated me."
spending a few tens of thousands on a fun project, overstating the cost to your company to the press, and enjoying WORLDWIDE FEELGOOD PUBLICITY FOR NOTHING? doesn't sound that bad a deal to me. Look how much bridgestone spend on F1 tyres, for example...
" Like it or not, the weak are supposed to die out."
Uhh... says who? I think you're taking that "survival of the fittest" a little too literally. There is no direction to evolution. In the long run it might be the case that the fittest survive most often, but this isn't necessarily the case on a per-individual scale.
In any case, intelligent life has changed all this. Does this mean it's bad for evolution? No. It just means the "survival of the fittest" phrase needs some changing.
now she has to be balanced and rotated every 10,000 miles.
I dont think we have to admit that at all. The same science is being used to improve the quality of the very thing you're moaning about: prosthetics for humans. Its extremely complicated to design flexible materials that respond like types of flesh, and this is all part of the progress. Its disapointing, especially on Slashdot, to see people who don't realize that research isn't a straight line. Research is a branching tree, with some branches rejoining the main trunk, where distal improvements often reintegrate to improve the main research.
"Stumble before you crawl"
First, I generally agree with you, but this is still a worthwhile act. Corporations are, in a legal sense, people, and should act as responsible members of the community. Charitable corporate donations have plunged over the last twenty years. Any positive action, even helping a dolphin, is a good thing.
Considering that Bridgestone's primary product (tires) is environmentally quite destructive, helping an animal is the least that they can do. We can be critical about what other causes they could have chosen to support, we can even make fun of dolphins, but fundamentally it was a decent act to help the creature.
How much is a dolphin worth? It's market value, or it's value as a living, caring, creature? People spend fortunes taking care of their pets, though it would be much cheaper to purchase a new dog or cat. They do it because they recognize the moral value and ethical requirement to be a good caretaker for the creature that they own. This is a 34 year old dolphin, dependant on human beings for it's life. There is nothing wrong with being decent towards it.
All of the alternate uses are good, even better. But to get a corporation to do something good is in itself remarkable.
/* Dang, I can't type that well. */
from bridgestone's point of view though, they just got some excellent worldwide feel good PR and advertising for $95,000, cheap at twice the price...I can't find data on the price of F1 tires (mostly because Bridgestone refuses to discuss figures, usually a good sign you can't afford them!),but i wouldn't be at all suprised if it made 95k look like spare change
not to mention they will have got some valuable research data from the experiment
and while i might agree that saving one dolphin, is (pardon the pun) a drop in the ocean... it's a start. Dolphins are truely facinating creatures, very bright and with a primary sense (ultra sound) we are just begining to understand. It would be a great shame if they were all gone before we actually got to know them a bit more.
and yes there is an element of "feel goodism" involved, but if that translates into more empathy for dolphins, ie NOT " euthanize the dolphin and go out and catch another one" then i for one am all for it.
Andrew Lourake is an American jet pilot, who had his leg amputeed in 1998. Now he has a C-Leg and in October 2004 he returned to his job. He works for the federal government carrying government officials, congressmen and the like in the C-20 Gulfstream. During the training his performance during some exercises (saving passengers from a burning plane after a crash, for example) was better than that of two healthy novice pilots training together with him.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
In the current Survivor:Vanuatu one of the contestants has an artificial lower leg. He is one of the best competitors in the physical challenges. The only test that he seems to have a bit more trouble than the others in is walking a narrow balance beam. He was voted off last night after 29(?) days and making it to the final 8.
Depending on whether you believe they actually live in that shelter on the beach for 39 days when the cameras aren't turned on or not, his leg doesn't seem to be having any trouble with the salt water, sand, dirt, etc. I'm actually very interested in seeing some interviews with him after the show ends on some of the particular problems he faced with it.
"Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
Dolphins are vastly superior to human beings : they don't need to have cities nor vehicules ; they're fit to their environement far better than we are to ours. They're actually among the fastest creatures in the water. Our best boats are just close to their top speed, after 15.000 years of so-called "scientific evolution". They don't need to work to buy food : they can grab a snack whenever they want, wherever they want. Try to catch a rabbit on your own ! They're smarter than humans : no dolphin would attack one of its sibblings. So they can spend an entire laid-back life, probably telling themselves fun stories about us, forever enslaved and fighting hostile conditions.
But there is more : being a dolphin, you would have a lifelong erection, and not having to go to the old trick of "- Here is your aspirin darling ! - What for, I've got no headeache ? - Fine, let's shag!" to have sexual relationships.
If I were on metempsychosis, I would DIE to reincarnate into a dolphin.
How is this getting rated insightful? This is either a troll or a moron.
First off, it isn't philanthropy because you can only be philanthropic towards humans.
Second, Bridgestone is doing this as a cool way to market themselves and maybe do something nice at the same time.
Third, by your argument you should sell your property, if any, stop eating nice food, stop using medical insurance, stop going on trips, stop buying new clothes, and stop using electricity. The amount of lives you could save with all of that money by far dwarfs your own - even if you die because you are homeless and malnourished, you're going to make it so that hundreds of children will live. So please, go follow your own advice and stop not saving children's lives by posting on slashdot. I figure every 10 posts is another dead baby at your feet.
I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_subculture#W elcoming_Our_New_Overlords
Just remember that "the fittest" is defined as whoever survives in their environment. So, this particular dolphin may have a cuteness adaptation that makes humans want to help her. While that wouldn't be a benefit in a humanless ocean, she doesn't live in a humanless ocean. It doesn't make any sense trying to decide who is the fittest beforehand. That is trying to put a human value judgement on a natural process. You do what you do. They do what they do. No need to worry about evolution. It'll keep on going without us. It's like that.
"When she saw the artificial fin for the first time, she ran away. She was so scared of the object. It took us five months to make her get used to the artificial fin. Now she is perfectly fine with it," he said.
Wow! They got her artificial feet too?
Vivin Suresh Paliath
http://vivin.net
I like
Like it or not, the weak are supposed to die out.
Well known but untrue. Although it's commonly refered as the "survival of the fittest" - which many people misunderstand as "survival of the strongest" - what modern science means is the "survival of the most adaptive". That is, species that can adapt fastest with the least amount of hazzle to changing environments and new illnesses have the biggest chances of survival.
If that means getting some two-legged ape-decendants - who still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea - to make you a rubber fin thats perfectly fine for us dolphins...
Look, this thing is totally safe! Built it myself, you know. You just press that button like this and then turn that lev
Like it or not, the weak are supposed to die out.
I'm feel guilty for wearing glasses now, but I'm not sure what to do next. Should I proactively slit my wrists, or just stop wearing lenses while driving and let nature take its course?