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An Alternate Human

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the better-than-the-original dept.

B0b Barker writes "What has six limbs, a prehensile tail, its brain in its chest, and reproductive organs in its mouth? The alternate human designed by biologist PZ Myers in Remaking Humanity, a story in Forbes.com's package on Reinvention. It may sound fantastic, but researchers are already working to re-build DNA, proteins and cells in a new field called synthetic biology, and we may have to meet these bug-eyed freaks sometime in our lifetime."

11 of 450 comments (clear)

  1. The problem of nerve impulse conduction by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Informative


    From TFA:

    There's no particular necessity that the brain would form in the head--that's again a product of convenience, since more sensory organs were located in the front of the animal, and induced an enlargement of the local part of the nervous system to cope with their input.

    So let's meddle again, and instead put the brain somewhere near the middle of the animal. In that position, it can be better protected by the mass of bone and muscle in the chest, and also be more conveniently located relative to the heart and circulatory system. It changes our head from a bulbous housing for a crucial, delicate organ, all poised on a fragile stalk of a neck, to a flexible sensory and feeding apparatus.
    In addition to convenience, there's a good reason the brain is located in the head...in close proximity to the major sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose, mouth). This placement minimizes the time lag of neural impulse conduction, by minimizing the necessary length of nerve connecting the sensory organs to the brain. For this reason, I wouldn't expect many species to evolve with a larger-than-necessary distance between their brain and their sensory organs (unless such creature evolved a much faster method of conducting nerve impulses than we possess).
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    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:The problem of nerve impulse conduction by Zordak · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Wait a minute, are you questioning the scientific authority of an article in Forbes, the leading peer-reviewed, highly-respected scientific journal with a proven and unblemished history of unimpeachable accuracy?

      Who was it that called Forbes something like a sort of corporate porn for middle management?

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
    2. Re:The problem of nerve impulse conduction by ceoyoyo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Some of your reflexes are controlled from your spine as well. Very much faster than waiting for nerve impulses to travel up to your brain and back.

    3. Re:The problem of nerve impulse conduction by cmallinson · · Score: 5, Insightful
      More distance between the brain and the sensory organs also presents the problem of having greater risk of damage to those (now longer) nerves. With the brain in the head, a blow to the neck can cause paralysis of the limbs. With the brain in the torso, a blow to the neck (or perhaps even lower vertebrae) would cause paralysis of the face, as well as rendering the individual deaf and blind. As bad as it would be to be quadriplegic, I'd take it over the alternative.

      As far as I'm concerned, if I'm going to lose my head - my brain may as well go with it.

  2. reprod organs in mouth? by eosp · · Score: 5, Funny

    how's that a change?

  3. Uh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    It may sound fantastic, but researchers are already working to re-build DNA, proteins and cells in a new field called synthetic biology, and we may have to meet these bug-eyed freaks sometime in our lifetime.
    With that sentance structure "bug-eyed freaks" clearly refers to the subject; the researchers.
  4. Is it just me, or does the 'Alternate Human' ... by ColdCoffee · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...look suspiciously like the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

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    Sig? - yeah, whatever.
  5. Behold!!!! by gasmonso · · Score: 5, Funny

    I present you the five-assed monkey!

    http://religiousfreaks.com/
  6. Dynamic tension by wombatmobile · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's no particular necessity that the brain would form in the head

    In modern humans the heart is positioned midway between the brain and the genitals, pumping blood to both.

  7. Question by dwalsh · · Score: 5, Funny

    "...reproductive organs in its mouth"

    Whose?

    --
    ${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
  8. We're just evolving differently by bigtrike · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We haven't stopped it, we've only altered the rules. Finding food and escaping predators is no longer much of an evolutionary influence. There are quite a few new things which can cause us to fail to reproduce. Humans will likely evolve in time to become less susceptible to cancer and asthma caused by air pollution, more likely to survive car crash trauma, be more tolerant of lead and mercury, and less likely to suffer negative effects such as heart disease from overconsumption of food. Women whose genetics prevent birth control from working well are currently far more likely to reproduce than others, so we will likely see some tolerance in the general population (although the medications will likely change at a much faster rate than we can evolve around). This is all just speculation though, I'm not a biologist.