Attention Zombie Creators: More Things to Do with DNA

/in , /by

Again with the bacteriophages! Mad scientists at the National Academy of Sciences have engineered sections of DNA to be used for plain, old data storage. (Like, dude, yer playlist is inside you.) Quote:

After some 750 trials, the team struck on the right recipe of proteins, and now have their sights set on creating a full “byte” – eight bits – of DNA information that can be similarly manipulated. The work is at the frontier of biological engineering, and senior author of the research Drew Endy said that applications of the approach are yet to come.

“I’m not even really concerned with the ways genetic data storage might be useful down the road, only in creating scalable and reliable biological bits as soon as possible,” Dr Endy said. “Then we’ll put them in the hands of other scientists to show the world how they might be used. One of the coolest places for computing is within biological systems.”

See, it’s cool. Turning DNA into storage, no chance of that replicating and going pluooey! He’s not really concerned.

Well, zombie creators, show him why he better be.

Dangerous Science

/in /by

One of my preferred science fantasy/fiction themes is the unintended consequences of scientific discovery or its intentional misuse. Because humanity is struggling every day to survive its own technological age, it’s the issue of our time upon which everything else rests. Here’s a bit of it, as discussed by Michio Kaku.

Now git to work.

You are Dumb: Quote for Your Saturday

/in /by

“And make no mistake about it, you are dumb. You’re a group of incredibly well-educated dumb people. I was there. We all were there. You’re barely functional. There are some screw-ups headed your way. I wish I could tell you that there was a trick to avoiding the screw-ups, but the screw-ups, they’re a-coming for ya. It’s a combination of life being unpredictable, and you being super dumb,” said Aaron Sorkin, speaking at Syracuse’s commencement.

Sorkin also offered these kindly, if standard commencement words:

“Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit, things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day. Civility, respect, kindness, character. You’re too good for schadenfreude, you’re too good for gossip and snark, you’re too good for intolerance—and since you’re walking into the middle of a presidential election, it’s worth mentioning that you’re too good to think people who disagree with you are your enemy.”