they laughed at me at university

So, I’m figuring that “Wooly Mammoth Rampage in Disneyland!”…

…will be about what, 2017? 2019? Via @allahpundit:

Scientists use ‘Jurassic Park’ experiment to try to bring woolly mammoth back from the dead

Scientists are a step closer to bringing the woolly mammoth back from the dead.

In an extraordinary Jurassic Park style experiment, they used DNA from an extinct frozen mammoth to bring back to life the major component of mammoth blood.

…complete with artistic representation of the wooly mammoth, which is basically a “angry-looking Snuffleupagus* with giant TUSKS OF DOOM.” Oh, sure, they talk later about how they can’t use this to actually create a Prius-flipping behemoth that will charge its way across Southern California until it is ironically lured into the La Brea Tar Pits by a rugged military veteran/surf instructor with a past, his wise-cracking surfing dude sidekick, and the obligatory gorgeous woman with glasses and a labcoat, but then: they always say that. Right before the unveiling, and the cameras flashing, and the beast running wild…

I mean, read this part:

The researchers could use the same technique to bring back other extinct proteins in mammoth’s bodies. They could also use them for prehistoric rhinos, bears and tigers.

Rhinos.

Prehistoric rhinos.

These guys have plans.

Moe Lane

*Got it spelled right on the first try, thank you very much.

“You will recognize the Genetically-Engineered Super Battle Dog as a registrable breed!”

Quote of the day, from the webcomic Skin Horse. Because being able to rant things like that to the American Kennel Club is what being a Mad Scientist is all about.

Moe Lane

PS: Theo Gray’s Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do At Home – But Probably Shouldn’t. For no other reason besides it having a slightly better cover than Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices.

Giant, scary-looking bug given computer control chip.

What could possibly go wrong? (Via Steve Jackson Games)

The Army’s Remote-Controlled Beetle
The insect’s flight path can be wirelessly controlled via a neural implant.

A giant flower beetle with implanted electrodes and a radio receiver on its back can be wirelessly controlled, according to research presented this week. Scientists at the University of California developed a tiny rig that receives control signals from a nearby computer. Electrical signals delivered via the electrodes command the insect to take off, turn left or right, or hover in midflight. The research, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), could one day be used for surveillance purposes or for search-and-rescue missions.

Ah, DARPA: Eager to have you show them; to show them ALL!!!!! since 1972. Not that I mind… just so long as they avoid putting the X-Ray lasers or psionic hallucination projectors that DARPA-of-course-doesn’t-have on these suckers. Mad science is all very well, but WiFi isn’t what you’d call secure, you know what I mean?