The March of Science

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-03/scientists-resurrect-bonkers-extinct-frog-gives-birth-through-its-mouth

An extinct frog has been brought back to existence by some scientists.  I have expected this ever since Jurassic Park was released in 1993.  It was only a matter of time.  A hundred years from now, it will probably be common to see saber-toothed tigers and mammoths at the zoo, maybe even dinosaurs.  Extinction is not as permanent as we've been led to believe.  Now when Greenpeace or the Sierra Club claim that so many species are going extinct every year because of this or that, we don't need to worry.  We can bring them back, if we need to.  In fact, we get the benefit of seeing how things go without this or that species.  Maybe things are better without the banana slug or the snail darter.  If not, bring it back.

 

Eventually, we will understand the genetic code to such a degree that mythical beasts will be made.  How hard will it be to create a unicorn?  A dragon?  A pegasus?  I recall a book I read - by Robert Heinlein, I think - in which a character asked to have a pegasus made and the geneticist explained that it wouldn't be able to fly on account of physics; but he could make it.  It won't be long after that when we start creating mutant humans.  Maybe splice dog olfactory senses into a human to do away with police dogs.  How about the eyes of a hawk?  May sound crazy now but it will happen.  Perhaps not in the US, but certainly in other countries.  The super human is coming.  Who needs steroids when you have engineered genes?  How will that affect sports?

 

Not only genetically-enhanced, but probably also cybernetic.  Much of technological innovation has been shrinking the distance between people and technology.  The smart phone is very nearly an appendage already.  Google glasses are here and will bring a whole new angle to reality TV.  I've read of nanobots in the blood stream that will keep track of one's health.  Imagine a nanobot that cleans out your arteries: it's coming.  There is a web series called H+ that suggests these nanobots will be vastly more versatile than just keeping you healthy; you might become your smart phone.

 

Sure, much of this may be decades away, some might come in the next few years, and a lot is already here.  But all of it is just a matter of time and I'm probably underestimating what will be possible.