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U.S. Scientists Create Zombie Dogs

Alex_Ionescu writes "U.S. scientists have managed to revive dead dogs to life, by using a technique similar to cryogenation, in which the dogs' blood was drained and replaced by a cold, saline liquid. A couple of hours, their blood was replaced, and an electric shock brought them back to life with no brain damage. The technology will be tested on humans within the next year."

81 of 1,010 comments (clear)

  1. well... by darthpenguin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article is somewhat light on facts. From what I recall, during drowning or suffocation, brain damage occurs in humans quite soon (10 minutes?). How is it that this process negates the lack of oxygen to the brain, allowing no damage to occur? Is it the temperature of the liquid used for replacing the blood?

    Also, the article has "Although the animals are clinically dead, their tissues and organs are perfectly preserved." followed immediately by "Damaged blood vessels and tissues can then be repaired via surgery." So, which is it?

    I suppose we'll have to wait for a real scientific journal to publish this before we find out much more.

    Also, another attempt at hibernation, this time in mice, using a different method involving hydrogen sulfide gas.

    1. Re:well... by ruggerboy · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Damaged blood vessels and tissues can then be repaired via surgery." I think this means gunshot wounds etc.

    2. Re:well... by Binestar · · Score: 5, Informative

      Also, the article has "Although the animals are clinically dead, their tissues and organs are perfectly preserved." followed immediately by "Damaged blood vessels and tissues can then be repaired via surgery." So, which is it?

      They were refering to the use of this in medical emergencies. Put someone into this state, work on the damaged tissue with no bleeding or time crunch, then revive when they are fixed.

      I'm more interested in knowing who the hell is going to volunteer for this procedure...

      --
      Do you Gentoo!?
    3. Re:well... by daniil · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I'm more interested in knowing who the hell is going to volunteer for this procedure...

      A mortally wounded gunshot victim?

      --
      Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
    4. Re:well... by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 4, Funny
      I'm more interested in knowing who the hell is going to volunteer for this procedure...

      George Romero?

    5. Re:well... by Carnildo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well, one obvious use is for open-heart surgery -- that goes a whole lot easier if you can stop the heart, and heart-lung machines aren't perfect. I think the first human trials will be volunteers who are additionally undergoing major surgery.

      --
      "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
    6. Re:well... by Sosarian · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Also, the article has "Although the animals are clinically dead, their tissues and organs are perfectly preserved." followed immediately by "Damaged blood vessels and tissues can then be repaired via surgery." So, which is it?
      Um both? If your blood vessels are damaged by a gunshot wound as stated in the article and you have massive bloodloss this would keep you "alive" by keeping you dead for a time while they patched you up.

      Personally I think the fluids would just drain out of whatever wounds you do have.

      I think a better application of this technology will be for these multi-hour operations where they want to repair heart defects or do transplants, in which they currently induce hypothermic states.

    7. Re:well... by cmpalmer · · Score: 4, Informative

      There was a good summary of this technique as well as the hydrogen sulfide method in an article in Discover last month. This appears to be a very hot (no pun intended) topic in experimental medicine.

      --
      -- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
    8. Re:well... by Rei · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yep. And the reason that they don't get brain damaged is because their neurons aren't dying. And their neurons aren't dying because they're not metabolizing, and thus needing oxygen. The brain is in hibernation, just like the rest of the body.

      Still, this is ubercreepy. Even the electrical shock at the end bit... sounds like 50s sci-fi. What's next? "The shock required is quite intense, so facilities doing this work will need to affix a lightning rod to their roof and wait for a storm..."?

      --
      What a crazy random happenstance!
    9. Re:well... by Rei · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm wondering if the US (or other countries) would allow those on death row to volunteer

      So what... they kill them, bring them back to life, and kill them again? That explains the concept of being given multiple sentences of death ;)

      Besides... from what I heard, as soon as the dogs were brought back, they immediately headed to the nearest computer and started incessently sending out bulk email.

      --
      What a crazy random happenstance!
    10. Re:well... by xfmr_expert · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, there is actually a Safar Center for Resuscitation Research in Pittsburgh. They have been doing Suspended Animation research for at least 10 years now, according to thier site, for the U.S. Navy. They have been using dogs as test subjects, but apparently only until recently have been unable to bring the animals back to life without some brain damage. Their goal is to make it 2 hours or more with causing brain damage. The intent is for severe trauma victims to be put into a state of suspended animation until they can be transported to a hospital for treatment, specifically battlefield injuries.

    11. Re:well... by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 4, Funny

      Depending on the thickness of your tinfoil hat- there are many examples of the gov'/military testing things on humans despite the fact that they "aren't supposed to." The Tuskegee Airmen are a well known example, others may require a little more belief in some conspiracy type things.
      It seems to me that this would, or has already been, tested on humans who aren't from the good ole US... The are billions of people of Earth, and they gov'y knows where to find the ones who won't be noticed... i.e. prostitutes etc.
      This does bring up all types of amazing possibilities- like having this on ambulances so peopel could be suspended until they are at a hospital and the trauma team is ready...
      Although I seem to remember a few times I tried to replace my blood with liquor, and even at a relatively low %, I still woke up with a heck of a headache...

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
    12. Re:well... by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 4, Funny
      Still, this is ubercreepy. Even the electrical shock at the end bit... sounds like 50s sci-fi. What's next? "The shock required is quite intense, so facilities doing this work will need to affix a lightning rod to their roof and wait for a storm..."?

      I can hear it now:


      Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Igor, would you mind telling me whose brain I did put in?
      Igor: And you won't be angry?
      Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I will NOT be angry.
      Igor: Abby someone.
      Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Abby someone. Abby who?
      Igor: Abby Normal.
      Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Abby Normal?
      Igor: I'm almost sure that was the name.
      Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into a seven and a half foot long, fifty-four inch wide GORILLA? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME?
    13. Re:well... by Verteiron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sorry, but how exactly is this scary?

      --
      End of lesson. You may press the button.
    14. Re:well... by evilpenguin · · Score: 5, Informative

      The Tuskegee airmen and the Tuskegee syphilus study aren't the same thing! (Although both refer to the same place).

      The evil government experiment was the Tuskegee syphilus study. They told residents of Tuskegee that they would receive free syphilus treatment and then treatment was withheld so the effects of syphilus could be scientifically documented and studied.

      I do not know if any of the Tuskegee Airmen (the only black squadron -- or the first, I don't remember -- in WWII) were in the study also, but they are not the same thing at all.

    15. Re:well... by ArsonSmith · · Score: 3, Funny

      Artificial blood is drained from satan's third nipple.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    16. Re:well... by meanfriend · · Score: 3, Informative
      The article is somewhat light on facts. From what I recall, during drowning or suffocation, brain damage occurs in humans quite soon (10 minutes?). How is it that this process negates the lack of oxygen to the brain, allowing no damage to occur? Is it the temperature of the liquid used for replacing the blood?

      There was a recent article in Scientific American* talking about suspended animation that may give clues as to how this works. Cell damage does indeed take place during low oxygen states (hypoxia) when the cell's metabolism continues without sufficient oxygen available and allows free radicals to build up and cause cellular damage. It appears that in some organisms, when you reduce the oxygen to an even lower state or remove it completely (anoxia), the cells can essentially shut down thier metabolism into a state of suspended animation. In other words, either normal oxygen or no oxygen can be tolerated, but there is a 10 fold window of low oxygen concentration that can be deadly. I believe this is where the brain damage occurs. If you stopped breathing right now, your blood still contains oxygen which would get slowly depleted as the cells continue to respirate. Perhaps the key to this technique is to rapidly replace the blood with a no/very low oxygen content fluid that will transition the cells from normal oxygen to anoxia as quickly as possible an minimize the amount of time spent in hypoxia.

      This procedure has already been demonstrated in animals like mice though it is unknown whether humans can safely undergo the same conditions, as we (obviously) dont normally go into hibernation. Though we've all heard stories of martial arts masters lowering their breathing rates and body temps for extended periods, so maybe it is possible. It would be an absolutely amazing breakthrough, though I wouldnt volunteer to be the first human test subject ;)

      * I am not remotely an expert in this field, but my background is in biology. I hope my memory has recalled the facts of the SciAm story without too much error.

    17. Re:well... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 3, Funny
      Althought dogs are forgiving animals, I think they might hold a grudge if you killed them, and then brought them back to life. What are baseline are they using for "normal" behavior? Are we talking Scooby Doo, or a Pit Bull? Is success defined as the dog not developing a taste for human brains?

      Well, on the plus side, they could collaborate with the Japanese inventor (can't remember his name) who is developing a dog translation device. I can see it now:

      Dog: Woof! Woof!

      Translator: Why did you kill me?

      Dog: Woof! Arf! Woof! Woof!

      Translator: Mmmm... Big, tasty scientist brains!

    18. Re:well... by kfg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I was brought into the hospital for lifesaving surgery. . .but my condition was such that it was deemed I would die from the stress of undergoing surgery.

      This is the sort of person who will volunteer. A person who has nothing to lose if the procedure fails, but everything to gain if it succeeds.

      KFG

      P.S. I got better.

    19. Re:well... by kfg · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A)I was not a trauma patient.

      B)All medicine, indeed all of life, is a question of probabilities and trying to stack them in your favor. We do not have, and thus cannot rely on, foreknowledge.

      Get used to this idea.

      The most common and "safest" traditional procedures may, in the right circumstances, kill you. That's the way it is.

      No one can be sure, ever, that they'll actually benefit more from a trial procedure (or any other) than from a traditional approach, that's why it's a trial procedure, and why trial procedures are necessary. Probability is an empirical science and someone has to go first.

      KFG

    20. Re:well... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 5, Informative

      From what I recall, during drowning or suffocation, brain damage occurs in humans quite soon (10 minutes?). How is it that this process negates the lack of oxygen to the brain, allowing no damage to occur?

      The 10 minute limit is for slow suffocation at normal temperatures. Two things happen:

      - First, many of the tiny valves controlling the distribution of blood in the brain capilaries shut, trying to route the remaining oxygen to the neurons controlling things like breathing and heart rate.

      These valves are tiny muscles, which, once contracted, require power (from metabolization) to reopen. Let them be oxygen-starved for too long - about ten minutes - and they get stuck closed. Then, even once oxygen is restored, the blood remains cut off to the areas they control. (It does no good to raise the blood pressure to try to force blood past them: You'll blow the plumbing before they leak. Massive stroke.)

      - Second: As with the muscles, the neurons have continuous chemical reactions going on that cause damage that must be cleaned up by active, powered, systems. Turn down the oxygen while leaving the temperature up and the cleanup systems fail while the damage mechanisms continue. (Firing the nerve uses up additional power, making the problem worse.)

      Let this go on for more than half an hour or so without turning the air back on and the damage gets ahead of the nerve's ability to repair it - causing cell death. That ruptures the cell and releases a glutamate - which tends to force other nearby nerves to fire, consuming their resources and speeding their death, in the "glutamate chain reaction". This easily gets started in regions of the brain fed by still-shut-off plumbing. But with enough glutimate dumped it can spread to nearby areas that have adequate oxygen - because it's not adequate to keep ahead of the massive firing and cell exhaustion.

      The first mechanism sets the normal time limit. But the second is the final catastrophe.

      But diving sets up a condition much like suffocation upon resurfacing: Swimming underwater pressurizes the gas in the lungs, and the organism can remain active for some time before it starts to run out of oxygen. But then it takes time to get back to the surface - and the lowered pressure on the ascent causes oxygen levels in the blood and tissue to crash. Not good.

      Evolution came up with a workaround: The "mamilian diving reflex", so called because it's characteristic of all mamals - happened a LONG time back.

      When the reflex detects a deep dive (cold on the skin - especially on the back of the neck, I think), it modifies the valves' reaction to overall oxygen shortage: Instead of shutting off blood to "unimportant" (for respiration) parts of the brain, it causes ALL the valves to OPEN. Then if they stick they stick open. This risks speeding respiratory failure. But once (if) oxygen is restored, it allows it to reach ALL the brain. Get oxygen back before the cells start dying (after a half hour or so) and they all get the power they nead to clean up and get on with life.

      So if you drown in COLD water you can be breathing-stopped for a half-hour or a bit more and still be restarted with no long-term brain damage.

      This treatment seems to extend on that: Flooding with cold saline will activate the diving reflex, sticking the valves open. Then the rapid oxygen loss will shut down all energy-driven metabolism - both the repair and some of the damage-makers.

      Meanwhile, the deep cooling of the tissue (to essentially refrigerator temperatures) will slow the other damaging chemical reactions, just as refrigeration slows meat spoilage. (It IS slowing meat spoilage! And 7C is about 45F, close to the 40F recommended for refrigerator settings.) This is probably the main factor in getting past the half-hour limit on cold-drowning.

      Separate storage of the blood allows the replacement fluid to be optimized to cool the rest of the body at a more rapid rate than could be accom

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    21. Re:well... by Mastoid · · Score: 3, Funny

      Presumably someone turned you into a newt?

      --
      I had an argument...with the person here at the university that teaches OS design. I wonder when I'll learn --Linus
    22. Re:well... by kfg · · Score: 3, Funny

      Presumably someone turned you into a newt?

      It was an effective tactic, as newts do not suffer from any of the maladies that had brought me to that particular pass. This bought them time to stablize me and develop an effective treatment strategy.

      Actually, I was bit disappointed, as I had hoped to be transformed into a zombie newt and go out in search of amphibian BRAAAAAAAINS!

      (I admit it, I haven't had time to read the whole thread. Has anyone pointed out yet that zombies are, by definition, animate, and thus a dog in suspended animation cannot be a zombie?)

      KFG

    23. Re:well... by vivin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yep. And the reason that they don't get brain damaged is because their neurons aren't dying. And their neurons aren't dying because they're not metabolizing, and thus needing oxygen. The brain is in hibernation, just like the rest of the body.

      So is there a temperature limit for metabolizing?

      Cell death is of two kinds - apoptosis or necrosis. Apoptosis is programmed cell death (when the lysosomes break), whereas necrosis is due to cell damage - and in this case, lack of oxygen. Cells that die due to necrosis show a lower level of ATP - so it makes sense that the cell was trying to metabolize the remaining oxygen and ran out.

      From here, you can see that the increase in Ca2+ ions leads to chain of events that eventually leads to necrosis. Ca2+ ions over a certain threshold inhibits the energy and respiratory processes. I guess the question is, what is stopping the neuron from trying to metabolize?

      What I'm assuming is that it takes longer for the blood in the body to cool down, during which time the neurons can continue metabolizing. But when the temperature is suddenly lowered to 7C, metabolysis stops? But we couldn't just quickly lower the temperature of the body to 7C because it would take > 5 min for the blood to cool.

      --
      Vivin Suresh Paliath
      http://vivin.net

      I like
    24. Re:well... by LurkerXXX · · Score: 3, Informative
      Research/Teaching hospitals is where this would first be tried. And this isn't really the type of thing you could easily plan for to get prior consent.

      What will most likely happen is a team will learn the procedure, then wait till their ER gets the right candidate for it. "Mrs Smith, your husband was shot multiple times with a shotgun during a robbery and his insides are shredded. It would take hours to repair and he *WILL* bleed out in the meantime. We simply can't pump enough blood in him to keep him alive. We do however have an experimental protocol we could try. We would replace his blood with ice-cold saline and put him into something like a hibernation state while we try to repair the damage, then replace his blood and restart his heart. Do you want us to try?"

    25. Re:well... by dcam · · Score: 4, Funny

      So what... they kill them, bring them back to life, and kill them again? That explains the concept of being given multiple sentences of death ;)

      It could also be very convenient. Suppose not all the grieving relatives were able to make it to the execution. You could stage it again, possibly even closer to their homes. Think of the possibilities.

      OK, I'll go sit in the corner and take my sense of humour with me.

      --
      meh
  2. death and taxes by NegativeOneUserID · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ok, looks like taxes are the only sure bet left.

    1. Re:death and taxes by ericspinder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, It'll be death by taxes, I'll take a chunk of money to live forever.

      --
      The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
    2. Re:death and taxes by aiabx · · Score: 3, Funny

      Like Hotblack Desatio, you can now take a year off dead for tax reasons.
      -aiabx

      --
      Just this guy, you know?
    3. Re:death and taxes by mapmaker · · Score: 4, Funny
      Ok, looks like taxes are the only sure bet left.

      That's how you can tell these zombie scientists are liberals. Republican scientists would have tackled taxes first.

  3. Ralston-Purina has responded by rebug · · Score: 5, Funny

    New Gravy Brains(TM) brand dog food has the brain flavor your zombie dog craves.

    --

    there's more than one way to do me.
  4. Oh no! by zalas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh man... I can see the flood of Resident Evil jokes now...

    1. Re:Oh no! by rlp · · Score: 4, Funny

      OK - sponsored by Umbrella Corp. and Union Aerospace Corp.

      --
      [Insert pithy quote here]
  5. Big Deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've heard stories of Keith Richards doing this sort of thing since the '70s.

    1. Re:Big Deal by JordanH · · Score: 5, Funny
      • I've heard stories of Keith Richards doing this sort of thing since the '70s.

      Oh, so that's what happened. Do you know when the plan to revive him?

  6. Russians were doing this in 1940 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:Russians were doing this in 1940 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If I remember the old joke right* :

      Monday: U.S. scientists announce a new discovery.
      Tuesday: Pravda reports that Soviet scientists discovered it 20 years ago.
      Thursday: German engineers invent a device that puts the discovery to use.
      Friday: Japan exports the device to the U.S.

      If only I could remember what happened on Wednesday...

      * Last heard this one back in the early 1980's, if that helps put the stereotypes in context.

    2. Re:Russians were doing this in 1940 by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 5, Funny

      Right, but in 1940 they were still the Soviet Union. So, technically, dogs created zombie scientists.

    3. Re:Russians were doing this in 1940 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      If only I could remember what happened on Wednesday...

      Profit?

      *ducks*

  7. Re:Not On Me. by Suicyco · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You would rather die?

  8. Re:Not On Me. by fdrake76 · · Score: 5, Funny
    This seems too far fetched to be real.

    From what I understand, the dogs can't fetch very far either.

  9. Brains!? by Zediker · · Score: 5, Funny

    BRA.... errr... BONES!!!

    --
    I love to slaughter the english language.
    1. Re:Brains!? by mrscorpio · · Score: 4, Funny

      Brayne Strips!

      Dogs don't know it's not brains!

  10. Dear Mister Romero... by GPLDAN · · Score: 3, Funny

    From the Desk of Paramount Studios:

    George, baby, love that flick in the theaters now. Yeah, brilliant baby, that whole cpaitalist pig dog thing, and the gore, man you are the best...

    George, baby, I was wondering if we could take lunch next week with you and Stephen. Yeah, we got this new story based on real life, we think it's right up your alley...

  11. I Volunteer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I Volunteer, Bring me back when being 26, working at helpdesk and living with your parents dosent make me a looser.

  12. Attn: Postal Workers... by sl8763 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Good: Zombie dogs are much slower than the normal kind.

    The Bad: Normal dogs will not attempt to eat your juicy, delicious brain.

  13. I can't wait by nizo · · Score: 5, Funny

    The picture that comes with the article sure makes this whole process look really appealing. It reminds me of the picture that the local news station shows when there is any asteroid in the news (a huge moon-sized rock hitting the earth). Aren't stock pictures great?

  14. What do vegetarian zombies say? by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    GRAAIIINNNNSSSS...Grains...

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  15. Volunteers by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think this explains a lot about Dick Cheney.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  16. Has to do with the oxygen level by DanielMarkham · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a follow-on to an article in Scientific American this month. Interestingly enough, the article concluded that cells stay viable just fine in very high or very low oxygen environments. It's the transition stage that causes all the damage.
    Hence the reason for injecting saline -- it takes the oxygen-carrying blood out of the tisses almost immediately, which is what you want to do. The SA article authors said this seems a little extreme to use in humans, and I agree. They've had some success with mice using Hydrogen Sulfide, I think, mixed in with air. Also, surgery for animals that are "dead" brings in a whole new line of specialties that we haven't developed yet. This is going to be a fascinating area to watch, imo.

  17. Not just ER Patients... by cnelzie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...they could use this for the next set of Skull Sharing Conjoined Twins in an operation to split them apart.

    --
    If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
  18. But don't call it godless necromancy! by PCM2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nothing these scientists have done defies the laws of nature. Got that? No laws were broken! The scientists have merely "time shifted" the animals, which is perfectly permissible under Fair Use.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
    1. Re:But don't call it godless necromancy! by mooingyak · · Score: 5, Funny

      Repairing broken animals has never been an issue, it's just when you try to make copies without written authorization from the copyright holder that people get all upset.

      --
      William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
    2. Re:But don't call it godless necromancy! by WolfWithoutAClause · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, that's exactly why I put all my releases under the GPL! ;-)

      --

      -WolfWithoutAClause

      "Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"
  19. Re:No brain damage by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You'd have to really know a dog well (and observe its sensory and motor skills, note its emotional stability, and have a sense of its habits) before subjecting it to this sort of process. And then you'd have to pursue the dog's regular activities afterwards and note the changes. Anyone who has lived with a bright, energetic dog can tell you instantly if the animal is "off" in some way. Just like you'd notice it in your child. Now, longer-term issues, who knows. Like, would some degenerative, trauma-induced thing (something Alzheimers-ish) kick in later? No way to know. But no matter how good your brain scans or other imaging techniques may be, these are complex animals, and long-time handler/owner could tell you if you'd dropped a couple of circuits along the way.

    Why would you want to freeze someone indefinately? Let's go for a Sci-Fi answer since we're dealing with a near-Sci-Fi topic. Let's say that you've got the aging examples of some really prize breedings from a particular bloodline (I'm talking dogs here). And then, something ugly not unlike hoof-and-mouth, or bird flu starts turning in a species-specific pandemic. If I were a breeder that had been perfecting a bloodline for 50 years, I'd seriously consider taking a couple of those dogs and letting them have A Big Nap.

    For a lot of breeders, they love the individual dogs, but their truly beloved "pet" is the bloodline out of which they spring. Generations (of human lives) go into creating something as unique as a specialized dog (or bull, or chicken), so ways to put them on ice for later revival once a viral or other threat has been understood (or a vaccine developed) could be very compelling.

    I'd say all the same things about humans, but I'd be very Politically Incorrect at that point, so of course I won't.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  20. Here's the scene... by FunWithHeadlines · · Score: 3, Funny
    "Still, this is ubercreepy. Even the electrical shock at the end bit... sounds like 50s sci-fi. What's next? "The shock required is quite intense, so facilities doing this work will need to affix a lightning rod to their roof and wait for a storm..."?

    "Woof!"

    "Fluffy's alive! It's ALIVE! IT'S ALIIIIIVVEEE!!"

    1. Re:Here's the scene... by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Here is a video of what it looks like happening to a goldfish.

      OK, not quite the same but similar and I find it somehow entertaining ;-)

      --
      "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
    2. Re:Here's the scene... by HybridJeff · · Score: 3, Informative
      Some guy slowly takes all the water out of a fish bowl and you see the fish has progressivly less and less room.

      He then empties a can of mountain due into the fish boql and the fish floats at the top apparently dead.

      A few minutes later he repaces the mountain due with water again and the fish is remains floating upside down.

      A 9V battery is then dipped into the water and it seems to shock the fish back to life.

    3. Re:Here's the scene... by SacredNaCl · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thanks to some changes in bankruptcy laws & tax laws, it might be worth it to spend a year dead for tax purposes.

      --
      Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all.
  21. In the immortal words of Doc.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    1 point 21 Gigawatts!@!

  22. 7C is enough for infections by free2 · · Score: 3, Informative

    7C is enough for many pathogenic microorganisms
    so if you do this long enough, watch the infections

    During the procedure blood is replaced with saline solution at a few degrees above zero. The dogs' body temperature drops to only 7C, compared with the usual 37C, inducing a state of hypothermia before death.

  23. Re:Or by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Even more of there spuse gets them money wether or not the person survives.

    I'll bet that reads much better in the original Klingon.

  24. Re:Fake, but hilarious! by SirWhoopass · · Score: 4, Informative
    True, the news.com.au site isn't exactly a good news site.

    Some better links are here, here, and here.

  25. ObNethack by cswiii · · Score: 5, Funny


    What do you want to #rub?
    (w) - saline liquid
    What do you want to rub the vial of saline liquid with?
    (Q) - wand of cold
    The vial glows briefly.
    What do you want to wield?
    (w) - saline liquid (cold)
    You break the vial over the little dog's head. --more--
    The little dog yelps! --more--
    The little dog falls asleep.
    The zombie dog awakens! The zombie dog bites! --more--
    The zombie dog bites!

  26. This hits home... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On Sunday morning I was playing tennis with an older man I met in an online league. He was turning around to pick up a ball and he suffered a major heart attack and collapsed. His heart stopped for about 10 minutes on the tennis court while a girl from the court next to us performed CPR. He's in a coma in an ICU right now. The doctors said that stabilizing his heart is a primary concern right now, but that in the coming days discerning any damage done to his brain due to oxygen loss will become a primary concern.

    One of the things the doctor told us was that they were going to actually induce hypothermia in him while he is in the ICU. Recent studies have provided evidence that doing so may limit the brain damage caused by the loss of oxygen to the brain. Of course, in his case, it was extremely important (and fortunate) that CPR was started soon after his heart stopped, thus limiting the loss of oxygen to his brain.

    Hopefully studies like this will lead to more treatments which help people recover from heart failure.

  27. brains.... brains.... by Thud457 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sweet zombie Jesus, how can you tell if a dog has brain-damage anyhow? They already eat their own shit if you don't stop them.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:brains.... brains.... by P3NIS_CLEAVER · · Score: 3, Funny

      People doo this too. You haven't been on teh internet very long have you?

      --
      Please sign petition to restore sanity to our banking system!!!

      http://financialpetition.org/
    2. Re:brains.... brains.... by Afrosheen · · Score: 3, Funny

      They originally tested the methods on cats, but the cats were determined to be equally brain damaged before and after the testing. They would respond only marginally to any kind of stimulus and would not come when called.

  28. Re:I call "bullshit" on this article. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
  29. Alvaro Garza, Fargo ND, 1987 by 93,000 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Underwater for 45 minutes and made a full recovery. Water was obviously very cold.

    1. Re:Alvaro Garza, Fargo ND, 1987 by brer_rabbit · · Score: 3, Funny

      by full recovery, you mean this person was able to socially interact with other people from North Dakota? You sure he wasn't dead?

  30. OT: Technically by einhverfr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Necromancy originally meant something like "divining by use of the dead" such as summoning the spirit of an ancestor to ask about an important matter. Necro (Death) + Mancy (Divination). I guess though seances would qualify under this definition.

    Reanimating the dead was placed into this category much later, though beliefs about this practice....

    As a completely off-topic side-note, William Butler Yeates (the Nobel Prize-winning poet) was kicked out of the Theosophical society for experiments in necromancy. He was trying to summon the spirits of dead flowers.

    --

    LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
  31. High Quality News Source by BuckaBooBob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just look at a list of other stories they are currently covering

    12-year-old girl gets divorce
    Goats recruited to fight bushfires
    Scientists create robot lobster
    The most dangerous day of the week
    Cookie trail leads to suspects
    Soldiers steal tank to buy vodka
    Bonking, brawls and booze
    Man gets $2600 for plaster Jesus
    New shop to turn away the rich
    Sticky stunt's disastrous end

    Drop the story and move on :)

    --
    Who needs WiFi when we can have Packet Over Sheep! http://datacomm.org/PoS-InternetDraft.txt
    1. Re:High Quality News Source by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 3, Informative

      Goats really do fight brush fires. They eat the brush. The park district brings them around here twice a year.

  32. Actual article abstract by Vile+Slime · · Score: 4, Informative
    --
    ---- Go ahead, mod me down, I'll just post it again and you lose your mod points.
  33. Re:I call "bullshit" on this article. by Sentry21 · · Score: 3, Funny

    And I can't imagine how the dog's mind would survive intact, but that's just me.

    Dude, have you never played Resident Evil? Never seen Dawn of the Dead? The mind isn't supposed to survive. DUH! Otherwise most zombies would go back to work instead of feasting on delicious brains.

  34. This Is Nothing New... by SavoWood · · Score: 3, Funny


    Inigo Montoya: He's dead. He can't talk.
    Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.
    Inigo Montoya: What's that?
    Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.

    --
    Plant a tree in a developing country.
  35. Re:Ontological argument by 0111+1110 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't this a proof for the (non) existence of the soul?

    There is already no evidence for the religious concept of the 'soul'. If you are trying to convince a believer, don't bother. They do not believe based on evidence. The belief in magical, invisible, undetectable, but all-powerful entities is not based on science or anything resembling scientific, logical thinking. It is based on fairy tales usually 'learned' at an age before most humans are able to think critically. If you really want to convince a believer you will need to use a powerful emotional argument, not an evidence-based logical one. Their belief system is such that blind faith, especially in the face of contradictory evidence is considered a great virtue.

    --
    Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
  36. Re:Try feeding your damn dog asshole by sanosuke76 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, puppies will frequently practice coprophaghy as well. In rabbits, it's common due to them waiting for the bacteria in their gut to render digestable what they couldn't assimilate the first time around. Captive rabbits provided with a generous supply of food, will rarely ingest pellets.

    That having been said, baby iguanas eat the feces of adult iguanas in order to acquire the symbiotic bacteria which enable them to digest their food.

    As uncommon as it is to find coprophagic bacteria in carnivores and omnivores, it's very common among herbivores.

    Ok, that's been my essay on animals which eat their own crap. Dogs - yeah, I don't know why they do that. Dogs will frequently ingest CAT crap with giddy abandon. I don't have any idea if that's a nutritional thing or what.

    That having been said, I'd rather deal with a crap-eating dog which will take orders, than an aloof cat which just stares at me blankly. I've already got an iguana, which will basically just do whatever it wants to anyway - and it's a lot cooler to look at than a cat.

    --
    My 229 is all the Sig I need http://thegunwiki.com/
  37. Clinically dead vs. DEAD dead by wing03 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    At the risk of offending the anti-afterlife believers and continuing the threads on heaven, hell, souls and the afterlife in general...

    I'd agree with the poster about someone going through this procedure and not having any memory of it since there's no brain activity to store anything.

    But let's say there is some sort of energy that isn't measureable by the tools we have now that you could call a "soul" (tm). Maybe it's bound to the body until cellular decay occurs.

    Besides, what ever happened with those studies where researchers put notes up on ceilings of operating rooms to see if there were any NDE's that actually found themselves floating up to the ceiling to see what was written on these notes?

  38. a script by wattersa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Interior, large hospital emergency room

    We hear beeping sounds of monitoring devices; voices from the nearby nurse's station. The lighting is yellowish flourescent in the hallway for a sad, depressing atmosphere. It's a public hospital, so no one thought to have an interior designer make happy colors. The interior of the room is bright with white flouresent light.

    POV: facing LAUREN, just inside doorway. She's just been crying and is still wearing her street clothes.

    POV: LAUREN, looking into room.

    ANDY has just been wheeled into the room with a major gun shot wound to the chest. The wound is covered by a washcloth and shows some blood, but not a lot. He's behind a curtain setup so only his lower body is clearly visible.

    A NURSE (Asian female, early 30's) is facing away from us and is adjusting a piece of equipment.

    A DOCTOR (White female, 40's) is facing away from us and illuminated behind the curtain. She's dictating into a tape recorder between probing ANDY's injuries: "Bleeding from perforation of the left thoracic cavity 8cm from center of sternum." Pause. "Fracture of the fourth thoracic rib." Pause. "Wound track and cavity visible. Left lung perforated approx. 4 cm from inner side." Long pause. "Laceration of the circumflex coronary artery. Fragment not found." Pauses tape. (To NURSE) "Get me the chest x-ray please." Starts tape and continues indistinctly.

    Fade to black.

    Fade back in. More people are in the room. An X-RAY TECHNICIAN (Black male, 30's) is wheeling out the x-ray machine. It's digital, so the results appear on a CRT monitor in the room. The DOCTOR and SURGEON (white male, 50 and graying) discuss the x-ray and gesture to parts of it. They are ignoring LAUREN, who is still standing in the doorway. Finally, DOCTOR comes over to LAUREN and removes her bloody gloves.

    DOCTOR: Are you Mrs. Watters?

    LAUREN: Yes.

    DOCTOR: I'm going to explain what happened and what your options are.

    LAUREN: (Bravely) ok.

    Blood begins to drip onto the floor, which LAUREN doesn't notice but we do (center of frame between DOCTOR and LAUREN). NURSE puts absorbent towels onto the small pool that's forming.

    DOCTOR: Your husband was shot in his chest area fairly close to his heart. The bleeding is serious and we're trying to stop it. The biggest problem is that the heart was injured and we can't repair it completely without stopping it.

    NURSE comes up to both of them and stands there.

    LAUREN: What does that mean?

    DOCTOR: (ignoring her question) You have three options. The first option is for us to try open heart surgery. That is risky and means we have to stop the heart and use a heart-lung machine. The second option is for us to do what's called a "saline evacuation," which means we essentially put the body on ice for a couple of hours while we try to repair the heart. That's the most risky by far. The last option is for us to end treatment now.

    LAUREN: ...which one do you recommend?

    DOCTOR: I'm afraid I can't tell you that.

    LAUREN: (Confused) Why not? I have no idea which one I should do.

    DOCTOR: Liability reasons. (To NURSE) Come get me when she chooses.

    DOCTOR leaves the room, giving the impression of indifference to ANDY's condition and LAUREN's confusion.

    NURSE: Ok Mrs. Watters, you need to decide what to do now.

    LAUREN: (Confused) Well what did she mean by "put him on ice?"

    NURSE: It's where we take out all his blood and replace it with icewater.

    LAUREN: (Dumbfounded). Doesn't that mean he would die?

    NURSE: Not exactly. It's a technique they did a few years ago to save wounded army people. The heart stops but everything stays preserved and then you can restart the heart after surgery.

    LAUREN: Surgery?

    NURSE: To repair whatever damage there is. Your husband has a cut in his heart and they can't do anything about it as long as the heart's beating