Slashdot Mirror
Here There Be Dragons
ThisNukes4u writes "The Economist reports that scientists in California are coming closer to creating real-life mythical animals. Basically, they re-create the natural selection process through a computer simulation and then clone the resulting set of DNA in a donor animal." From the article: "Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, gryphon, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and, most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the gryphon). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled."
I Like Pickles!!!
Please mod me up to +5!!!!
...Hahahaha! Gotcha!
April Fools!
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
zomg i love dragons especially that brown one i hope they show him with hats to LOLOLOLOLOL!!!
Ok I gottta go now bye!!!
Hey this is great, I can now finish off my lifesize Polly Pocket collection with a real life Unicorn....thats...like...YEAH!!
I was gonna get my first first p...
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Sure. And I am King Of Persia!
I'll have 2 please. Grilled, preferably.
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
They will be nothing compared to mighty Trogdor! Those things wouldn't know majesty if it came up and bit 'em in the face.
Won't they also need Sean Connery's vocal chord genes?
"To the stars Bowen, to the stars."
All predicted in her dozen "Dragonriders of Pern" novels.
You know it's gotta be April Fool's when there are no dupes and people actually RTFA... (besides the whole color scheme thing that is)
That's so much more awesome than the genetic algorithms I worked with when I studied AI. Technology has come a long way in the past... few hours.
That's like ponies, but, uh, one better...
We need more pink in here STAT!
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
Yes, I'm the type of person who needs every joke patiently explained.
This is just another sign of the liberal pro-unicorn agenda.
I hope the president takes a stand against this just as he has so powerfully taken a stand against human animal hybrids.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
High quality articles, even when they're fake. :)
"Why couldn't she have been the other kind of mermaid, with the fish half on top and the lady half on the bottom?" -- Fry, Futurama
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
This just seems like a computer simulated process of natural selection. How will this make cloning come to real life?
There is absolutely no way to get this computer simulated process to be viable and used in real life..
1. Computer takes random genome.
2. Changes it and picks closest-looking one to target.
4. ???
5. PROFIT!
You know, only a virgin can catch a unicorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn). Seems fitting that this gets posted on /.
I'd like to see a nice, hot mermaid with 69 chromosomes. Till then, I've gotta stick with Carmen Electra's less superior 26 pairs.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Now Harry Potter fans can reenact scenes from the movie!
Now, on 2006 April 1, Slashdot is reporting about a technology that will enable us to create "supermen", like those described in the Star-Trek episode titled "Space Seed".
:)
Most likely they'll have completed flying pigs long before they even start work on honest politicans
How long before most domestic animals including man are chimeras? If adding a single animal or plant gene you could add fifty years to your life expectancy or leave you immune to cancer would you do it? At what point do you cease being human? It's just one gene but it's not a human gene. What about a hundred years down the line when most people have dozens of extra genes? Are we still human? Could we wind up multiple species? Maybe different groups have different added genes and some no longer can interbreed. By definition some or all can't be Homo Sapien. If none could mix with a modern human would we in effect be extinct?
it's about time someone came up with a more efficent way to create fire. It's now just a simple 6 step process.
/. demographic could do it.
1) google an image of a dragon
2) find an animal that looks like a dragon
3) input 1 and 2 into computer, run simulation
4) take output genome and synthesize DNA
5) place DNA into cell and allow cell to reproduce
6) use resulting dragon to create fire
It's quite simple really, even the new
That's the smell of PETA crapping all over this eventually.
http://www.sfsite.com/11a/dm163.htm
Though I wouldn't necessarily argue better: why not enjoy both?
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Oh please, the Klingons are much closer to Earth =D. But really, this is a quite amazing coincidence. I agree that Gene Roddenberry might have gotten closer to predicting the future than he originally imagined. Thank God it's him and not Blizzard Entertainment. I sure as hell don't want MY legs bitten off by creepy, slimey, doglike aliens.
Combine this genetically with healthy bacon, and we are on our way to Jurassic Pork. Trademark rights to the highest bidder.
Anybody want a peanut?
and for the ladies, they should clone the dragon i have in my pants
Ludwig Wittgenstein
That's so cool ! Imagine dragon babys, everyone ! I want one, awwww. How about a dragon with ribbons in its hair, though ? That would be funny !! LOL ! Cute !! xoxo ... Hey, anyone wanna smoke ?
I know it's become cliche to say so, but my cat's breath really does smell like cat food.
Wow, I hope googlebot doesn't see the tags people assign to the stories. Each and every story from "Wider Appeal" and newer is tagged "gay". Not that I have a problem with that, but, well, getting links to /. while searching for my daily gay porn dose would be quite disturbing.
No. But maybe the first evidence of "Narrative" as predicted by Terry Pratchett.
The Science of Diskworld is recommended reading. Our universe from a Diskworld perspective.
1-Everything wants to be a ball.
2-All balls want to crash into each other.
3-There are no turtles anywhere.
/. bug #926803 - Why I can post.
For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes. wikipedia also contains a sizeable list.
Sample
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
tvpredictions.com - Ready for X-ray TV? New TV picture technology even clearer than HDTV; you can actually see through people's clothing on TV.
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
bolloxcomics.co.uk - YTMND parody
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
sideshowtoy.com - Half a Darth Maul Figure Exclusive?
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
whirlpool.net.au - Telstra will only release 2mbit ADSL2+ in Australia.
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
sordeo.com - mirror image and the title says, 'Now optimized for those afflicted with Dyslexia'
eternal-lands.com - Free Software Foundation buys Eternal Lands
Belive in Technology and AMAZE yourself. -- RIP ZDTV/TechTV
PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal PUFF, and brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.
OH PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail Jackie kept a lookout perched on PUFF's gigantic tail, Noble kings and princes would bow whenever they came, Pirate ships would lower their flag when PUFF roared out his name
OH, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
A dragon lives forever but not so little boys Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys. One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more And PUFF that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.
PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain, PUFF no longer went to play along the cherry lane. Without his life-long friend, PUFF could not be brave, So PUFF that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave.
Oh! PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
now i remember why i hate april fool's day so much.... kthnxbye
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
Anyone remember Gelatinous Cubes, Carrion Crawlers, Grey Ooze & Purple Worms?
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
I Want A Pink Dragon!
The more I know, the less I know
Well since we are talking about mythical beings, can someone clone me something mythical called a "girlfriend"? Hey this is /., mythical and girlfriend belong in the same sentence.
The think this joke mythes the mark, hopefully I did not cause any mythconceptions. Hopefully I did not make any mythakes or mythspellings.
There will be dragons, and we will shoot balls of fire from our hands. Why? Because they're dreams, and the human kind has a habit of filling its dreams. Sure, it takes some time, but in, say, 600 years, maybe we really manage to create a creature that resembles the dragon of the myths, and no doubt we'll also have the possibility to attach nano/quantum implants into our hands that create some yet unknown reaction to fire plasma-like subtance from our fingertips. As long as there are wars where these invetions could be used and there's a military that supports them, they'll happen. I have no doubt, really.
In about 75 years when this might actually be possible... Of course we'll all be immortal by then. So I should have some time to play with him at least until I piss him off and sets me on fire.
What about FURRIES? The world needs more double-penised hermaphrodite dragonfox/wolf kitsunes! ;)
With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
I'm afraid you're about 57 years too early for that. First contact takes place on April 5, 2063.
Resistance... is futile.
If I commissioned them to build me a troll, I wonder whose genes they would start with?
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
I don't know what's more pathetic...the fact that Slashdot keeps running these lame April Fool's stories or the fact that this one was actually grabbed from Digg.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
APRIL FOOLS!
sic
Liger: cross between a lion and a tiger.
How long before most domestic animals including man are chimeras?
Less than fifty years, maybe even less than 20. You'll probably live long enough to see it, and hopefully long enough to recieve the treatment.
If adding a single animal or plant gene you could add fifty years to your life expectancy or leave you immune to cancer would you do it?
In a heartbeat.
At what point do you cease being human?
When I decided that non-augmented homo sapiens sapiens were inefficient and needed to be wiped out. Work on your wording, please.
It's just one gene but it's not a human gene.
So? Within two months, there was some hoopla about "Are humans still evolving?" to which I must answer "F!!!ing DUH!" Did we all start breeding randomly, or am I sorely mistaken? I know most of us here would beg to disagree, and random mating is *required* for evolution to stop. Humanity is still changing, and I'd like to be able to keep up, thank you very much.
What about a hundred years down the line when most people have dozens of extra genes? Are we still human?
I'm going to assume you mean biologically, this time. Which species definition are you using? There's about four. Morphological? I'd wager this is the first one to fall, before humanoid subspecies can't interbreed. Think of the furries that'd be the early adopters. The others tend to hinge on genetic relatedness, which ironically will probably be the most ironclad until we go really apeshit and start rewriting genomes from scratch. The other ones hinge on 'potentially interbreeding' which has a lot to do with the racial 'sense of beauty' and what gets you going. This will fall shortly after morphological.
But 'Are we still human' where it counts? The 'soul' if you will, the 'humanity'? Most likely.
Could we wind up multiple species?
Yes. (Subspecies would fit better into our current taxonomic system, but for all practical purposes the answer is yes)
Maybe different groups have different added genes and some no longer can interbreed. By definition some or all can't be Homo Sapien. If none could mix with a modern human would we in effect be extinct?
Depends on your species definition. Humanity as we know it wouldn't have died off, it'd be considered a transitional form which branched, much like the feline that gase rise to housecats and tigers.
You know what? I look forward to this.
It's a palindrome.
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."