BioPong II
This time no technological enhanced roosters, dogs, cats or wood lice, but sheep! The famous viral Extreme Shepherding by The Baaa-Studs.
What is Next Nature?
With our attempts to cultivate nature, humankind causes the rising of a next nature, which is wild and unpredictable as ever. Wild systems, genetic surprises, autonomous machinery and splendidly beautiful black flowers. Nature changes along with us.
Posts Tagged ‘Manufactured Animals’
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Metal Rooster
From our reliable source – who wishes to remain anonymous – we know that this is exactly the same rooster that was used in the Philips WakeUp Light test, but only one year later. Of course, this never made it into the test results that where handed to the Philips CEO.
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Injured Cat gets Bambi-style prosthetics
A cat that had its back feet severed by a combine harvester has been given two prosthetic limbs in a pioneering operation by a UK vet. The custom-made implants that “peg” the ankle to the foot are bio-engineered to mimic the way deer antler bone grows through the skin.
The ground breaking operation was carried out by veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick. The cat, named Oscar, was struck by the combine harvester whilst dozing in the sun.
The prosthetic pegs, called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (Itaps) were developed by a team from University College London led by Professor Gordon Blunn, who is head of UCL’s Centre for Biomedical Engineering.
Professor Blunn and his team have worked in partnership with Mr Fitzpatrick to develop these weight-bearing implants, combining engineering mechanics with biology. Mr Fitzpatrick explained: “The real revolution with Oscar is that we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone.”
“We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an ‘exoprosthesis’ that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal’s limbs to give him effectively normal gait.”
Professor Blunn told BBC News the idea was initially developed for patients with amputations who have a stump socket. “This means they fix their artificial limb with a sock, which fits over the stump. In a lot of cases this is successful, but you [often] get rubbing and pressure sores.”
It remains to be seen what the psychological ramifications of having bambi-style prosthetics will be for Oscar.
Via: BBC News.
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Dutch start Hunting again thanks to Supermarket Soccer Mascotte
In Holland people go crazy for soccer, especially now that the national team has reached the World Cup final. We gather everything that’s orange – our shirt color – as the ultimate solidarity to our players. Companies know this, and start handing out all kinds of stupid gifts to draw attention to the customers. Cause if it’s orange, we wanna have it, how useless or dumb, orange at soccer days is like gold.
Dutch Supermarket Albert Heijn is one of the main players in the field of funny orange trumpery. For every 15 euro you spend at the store you receive a ‘Beessie’ mascotte (see photo). But nothing you could do with it till now. Anglers found out it’s very usefull to catch fish. On several websites people are showing their catch with the ‘Beessies’ from the supermarket. There are competitions to catch the biggest, the most. And more important it’s addictive! Everybody wants to try cathing fish with Beessies.
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BioPong
Techno-artists love insects. Especially their unpredictable behaviour. Eindhoven (NL) based design studio Ehdv used tracking software and connected some camera’to a bunch of wood lice, to create graphic design and even chairs.
Insects can also become living pixels. Austrian artist Gordan Savicic re-creates a famous Aracade-video game, using a new ‘organic algorithm’: the AI of his BioPong is performed by a cockroach which carries a neon-green pixel on its shoulder. Players can control their sticks but are not able to foresee the movement of the CI (cockroach intelligence). Feeding the pixel is not allowed!
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Genetically Modified Salmon moves to Kitchen Table
The US Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal rate.
The salmon was developed by a company called AquaBounty Technologies. It is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon as well as a genetic on-switch from the ocean pout, a distant relative of the salmon.
Normally salmon do not make growth hormone in cold climate. But the pout’s on-switch keeps production of the hormone going year round. The result is salmon that can grow to market size in 16 to 18 months instead of three years.
The F.D.A. needs to analyze whether the salmon are safe to eat, nutritionally equivalent to other salmon and safe for the environment, according to government and biotechnology industry officials. Furthermore, they must decide on the environmental risks from the salmon. Some experts have speculated that fast-growing fish could out-compete wild fish for food or mates.
Nowadays the vast majority all Atlantic salmon now comes from fish farms, not the wild. According to its promoters the genetically modified salmon would be grown only in inland tanks or other contained facilities, not in ocean pens where they might escape into the wild. And the fish would all be female and sterile, making it impossible for them to mate – similar to bananas.
AquaBounty Technologies submitted data to the F.D.A. showing that its salmon was indistinguishable from non-engineered Atlantic salmon in terms of taste, color, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, proteins and other nutrients.
A public meeting to discuss the salmon may be held as early as this fall.
Via NYTimes.
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Another Happy Family
How could you ever be an anthropomorphobic after you’ve seen this peculiar image of the week. Thanks Maze.
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Runaway Robots Hunted by the Mammals They Were Designed to Replace
Last week, the U.S. Navy announced that four of their “REMUS 100” unmanned underwater vehicles sailed off-radar and stopped responding to commands. The ‘bots were part of a fleet of thirteen drones being used in a training exercise to locate mine-like objects on the ocean floor off the coast of Virginia.
After days of searching for the runaway bots using manned boats and aircrafts, the U.S. Navy has yet to find anything. So now, they’ve called in the real underwater experts: dolphins and sea lions, trained to detect mines.
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Grow-a-NanoRaptor
Now here is an example of the fusion between the made and the born, most kids would crave for. Much better than the robotic dino toy. Designed by evolution!
Hopefully this genetic surprise doesn’t grow genetically wild and eats its owner. Luckily it is just an imaginative product – so far.
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Craig Venter unveils ‘Synthetic Life’
Craig Venter announces what might be a historic milestone in the nature caused by people. For 15 years, Craig Venter and his team of scientists have tried to synthesize life from scratch. This week, he publicized their success.
A chromosome was designed in digital code on the computer and then transplanted into a bacterial cell, transforming that cell into a new bacterial species. Apart from the usual blueprint for proteins, the DNA also carried the names of the key contributors and even its own email address.
“This is the first self-replicating species on the planet, whose parent is a computer”
Venter already mentions some potential practical applications for his discovery: a vaccine for HIV and a new strain of algae that can significantly decrease CO2-levels and provide a source for gasoline.
Though great things can be done with this new technique, it also raises a lot of questions. Is man now some kind of god? Will we be able to design our own pets? Will we save our mp3-files on a flower instead of a USB-stick?
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Revisiting Jurassic Park
When searching for Next Nature in the world around us, one does not necessarily have to look at the present. The science fiction novel Jurassic Park, written in 1990 by the recently deceased Michael Crichton and later turned into a big blockbuster movie by Steven Spielberg, already discusses the fusion between the born and the made.
Halfway through the book, there is a chapter where Dr. Wu, the chief scientist, tries to convince Hammond, the CEO, to go over to a next version of dinosaurs.
Hammond sighed. “Now, Henry, are we going to have another of those abstract discussions? You know I like to keep it simple. The dinosaurs we have now are real, and -”
“Well, not exactly,” Wu said. He paced the living room, pointed to the monitors. “I don’t think we should kid ourselves. We haven’t re-created the past here. The past is gone. It can never be re-created. What we’ve done is reconstruct the past – or at least a version of the past. And I’m saying we can make a better version.”“Better than real?”
“Why not?” Wu said. “After all, these animals are already modified. We’ve inserted genes to make them patentable, and to make them lysine dependent. And we’ve done everything we can to promote growth, and accelerate development into adulthood.”
Hammond shrugged. That was inevitable. We didn’t want to wait. We have investors to consider.”“Of course. But I’m just saying, why stop there? Why not push ahead to make exactly the kind of dinosaur that we’d like to see? One that is more acceptable to visitors, and one that is easier for us to handle? A slower, more docile version for our park?”
Remarkable is how these topics, which were science fiction when written two decades ago, are still very much up-to-date and even more relevant today than before. Gene modification for patent purposes is a subject that was covered recently. How far can, and perhaps more importantly should, mankind go ?
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FluDOC – Glowing Bacteria show if you have Influenza
Bacteria are traditionally perceived as infectious and unhealthy, but that is about to change. This week designer Jan van der Asdonk graduated from the Next Nature Lab at the TU/e Industrial Design Masters with a speculative yet full fledged product proposal called the FluDOC, which uses glowing bacteria to detect human influenza.
The product uses genetically modified bioluminescent bacteria which are sensitive to influenza as a detector, somewhat similar to the canaries that were once used in coalmines to detect potentially dangerous gasses.
The FluDOC consists of a casing and a small stick which the user can use to collect salivia from the mouth, after which an liquid capsule of the bioluminescent bacteria is entered. If the saliva contains an influenza virus the bacteria will die within 15 minutes and stop emitting their continuous flow of light, which the user can simply read of the display.
The personal influenza test would typically be used if you don’t feel well but are unsure if you have influenza or merely a cold. Such self diagnosis could contribute to an early detection and containment of infectious influenza viruses.
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Let the Bacteria do the Cleaning
Dusting furniture and floors should be history in forty years time, as special bacteria in a yet to develop cleaning product will be eating the dirt.
The speculative cleaning product Terra BioNet, developed by Tim Brüggemann and Matthias Mittelsten Scheid of the Mannheim Universiteit, won the international innovation challenge organized by the German brand Henkel – creator of products Persil washing powder, Pritt-glue and Schwarzkopf shampoo.
Terra Bionet is a biologically degradable cleaning product, which includes genetically modified bacteria that feed on dirt. It is the dream of every cleaner and yet another step in the fusing of the made & the born.
Pity the technology is expected to hit the shelves only in 2050. If only this product was a bit more feasible it would nicely fit in our upcoming Nano Supermarket, of which submissions are still welcome until May 31th 2010.
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Beware of the Virtual Squirrels
Kasey McMahon and Derek Doublin demonstrate the tension between people and their environment through the eyes of its non-human inhabitants. Beware of the Virtual Squirrels! The ambiguity on whether the squirrel in the video stems from old or next nature only makes things more interesting: Nature changes along with us, yet our struggle remains.
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Cuddly Scooters
Why do we grow attached to things? Patricia Piccinini captured it well in this peculiar work: The Stags – 2008 (Culture becomes nature)
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Robosaurus eats Cars for Breakfast
The Robosaurus is the only airplane eating, fire breathing robot on the planet. Pity the thing is merely build for entertainment purposes. Perhaps this thing could finally solve our traffic congestion problem? No seriously, there is truth in pop-culture.
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Highlanders in the Lowlands: Re-enactment of an extinct Cow
At the end of every cold winter there is a debate in the Netherlands on whether the forestry service should feed the oxes, horses and deers grazing the Dutch nature resorts. The official policy of the Dutch forestry service is to let the ecosystem manage itself, which causes the weaker animals – 24% of the population – to parish because of lack of food: a sight too natural for most ‘nature’ lovers.
In response to the protests, the initiators of the Dutch ‘hands-off’ landscape management argue that the protests of hikers, bikers and other tourists merely exemplify how alienated people have become from nature. However, are the premises of these policy makers really valid? Is it defendable to leave the animals in the hands of the elements or is this game getting out of hand?
Recreation in the Netherlands: Tourist meets Highland Cow (image: P. Villerius)RECREATING A PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE
Since the last few decades the policy for nature resorts in the Netherlands has been geared at regenerating the original landscape, as it existed in prehistoric times. In practice this means that land is gained from the ocean or bought from farmers and transformed into the landscape we think existed 8.000 years ago, long before man placed its footprint on it.
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Tin Hybridization
Artist José E. Rivera takes pleasure in the sculpting of animals from electronic infrastructure. Same artist who created the evolving mouse. We are unsure what to conclude from the fact that these tin leopards are all fossils. Technobionostalgica?
