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Scientists Produce Fearless Mice
Dotnaught writes "According to New Scientist, a Rutgers University geneticist has found that turning off a specific gene for the protein stathmin makes mice fearless. The story speculates that this research might improve treatment for phobias. It does not mention obvious military applications for the discovery. As noted in this Naval Officer's guide for managing fatigue, the use of amphetamines to stay alert, followed by sedatives to sleep, has a long tradition. Genetic treatments may offer an alternative to pharmaceuticals."
These mice escape and breed in the wild. Enormous of fearless mice terrorize the world's cat population. It's not going to be pretty.
Whatever happened to the good old days of pumping soldiers full of angel dust to rid them of fear?
The non-military uses for such a treatment are pretty far-reaching. Would it be able to cure people that suffer anxiety attacks? Could children with night terrors be cured?
If the rats don't feel fear, do they also lose understanding of danger? That would be a pretty bad mutation.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
Now scientist need to figure out how to make theese mice pilot planes.
Giving Methamphetamines to soldies to "stay alert" and to "strengthen confidence" has -sadly enough- a long tradition. As Wikipedia tells us even the Nazis spreaded the drug among their Wehrmacht. What's the point of a government saying "Stay away from drugs!" on the one hand and willingly giving it to soldiers on the other?
Seems alright, I quit military service a long time ago...
Regards
Stirz
Looks like Isadore Klein beat them to the punch. He created a fearless mouse in 1942. http://www.toonopedia.com/mightym.htm
Come on Mickey, are you a MAN or a MOUSE?
AAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!
More mice have been committing suicide by cat.
[ ]
...or just plain stupid?
Lemon curry???
So we got fear, now there are a few more emotions to get rid of and we can make Equilibrium come true. Now that's practical applicaton of science.
Three mice were sitting in a bar, each trying to impress the others with how tough they were.
The first one said, "When I see a mousetrap, I deliberately set it off, bench press the bar fifty times, then snack on the cheese."
The second one, not to be outdone, said, "Yeah? Well, every morning when I get out of bed, I stir in some cream and rat poison in my coffee. It gives me a good buzz that really wakes me up and gets me going."
They both look at the third mouse who, after a few seconds, gets up and says, "I don't have time for this bullshit. I've got to go home and fuck the cat."
He's The Best
He's The Greatest
He's The Greatest Secret Agent In The World!
He's The Ace - He's Amazing...
He's the Strongest... He's The Quickest.... He's The Best!
The two certainly do not equate.
people nowadays like to talk about fear in ideological and propagandistic terms, but fear keeps you alive. it keeps you from wandering into traffic or picking fights with random people. if this were ever applied to humans, you wouldn't have superhuman heroic fighters for the military, you'd have guys shooting themselves with their own guns and jumping off roofs... why not, when you're not afraid of anything, including death
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
What about a laser mounted on the backs of these mice?
Oh, never mind
Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
See, it was all as Douglas Adams predicted. This proves that mice really are pan-dimensional super soldiers waiting to be triggered. I, for one, welcome our new fearless rodent overlords!
That's because there is no military applications. You don't want the soldiers to become fearless, because if they do, they might say: "This war is wrong. I used to be too afraid to do anything about it, but now I suddenly feel fearless, and will get the heck away from here !" Basically, fearless soldiers will refuse to obey when given orders that they think are wrong, and cannot be forced to obey by fear of punishment.
What you want is soldiers that are more afraid of their commanding officers than the enemy; that way they'll follow orders.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
....have a large stock of cheese, for our new....
"Hey check this out, I'm not in the least afraid anymore. Hmm, I wonder what it feels like to plough an airplane into the ground on full afterburner. Whee, fast! Hello mr cornfield. Ooh, a scarecrow. My, that ground sure is big."
Does this have any impact on USB mice?
They are called lemmings...
When all is said and done, nothing changes...
...a Rutgers University geneticist...
Rutgers? Didn't we read about them loosing three plague mice into the wild a few months back?
I don't know what these Rutgers scientists are up to, but I think we can all agree that "Fearless Wild Plague Rodents" would be an excellent name for a rock and roll band.
"Given the pace of technology, I propose we leave math to the machines and go play outside." -- Calvin
Getzen
... and for that extra helping of protein hunt for insects and in the case of rats even small birds and other mice. Both rats and mice also eat unhatched eggs. They don't have fangs like dogs and cats, but anybody ever bitten by a rat will tell you they have razor sharp incisors and a powerful jaw and the bite hurts plenty.
However... to set the record straight, like most other mammals a rat will
only attack a human when cornered or provoked. I suggest you do not pickup
or otherwise try to pet the rat you find out in the streets but they are
actually some of the cutest mammals in existance and they
make excellent pets.
See the pages of the Rat & Mice Club of America http://www.rmca.org/ if you're interested.
There really IS a club for everything, isn't there?
+++ATH0