Bio-Art: The Young Family.

Blurring the boundaries between humans and other animals is one of my favorite things in the world. If, however, such a practice became common, it would not be the cute and fuzzy utopia that the furries would probably like. Mixing human and animal nonetheless remains a very popular theme in art and culture, as it has for thousands of years. Only recently, however, has that combination been so close we could almost look in its eyes.




The Young Family, a sculpture by Patricia Piccinini, pushes the Uncanny Valley so hard that it has been featured on those "real or fake" pop-up ads alongside the bully whippet. It features a transgenic creature - or, rather, a family of transgenic creatures. (The artist herself mentions pigs; I for one see more dog in them.) Piccinini claims to have an ambivalent stance regarding technology. The Young Family was made to spark discussion. No time to start that like the present.

First of all, allow me to praise the artist for her choice on adding canine traits (mostly the ears) to her hybrids. Dogs are the creatures that illicit the most sympathy from humans. We already dress dogs up in people clothes and buy them birthday cakes. Had she chosen a pig, frog, or rodent (which are more common model organisms than dogs), the sculpture probably would not have had the same effect. Props.

Regardless of the animal used, the sculpture touches upon a very real issue: Science will create hybrids like the dog-family above. This is not an "if." Science will create fertile human-animal hybrids because it can. We've already engineered bacteria to make insulin and mice to have human immune systems.It is only a matter of time before we make all-out parahumans.

If human-animal hybrids became a reality, organ transplants would become a lot easier. There could be many a medical advance made by harvesting bodily fluids, organs, and so forth from not-quite-human chimeras and hybrids. There is no way science will not do this. People who have relatives with diseases that can only be cured by human tissue replacement will do whatever they can to get that person cured.

Parahumans like The Young Family open a whole new can of worms. Modern culture has placed a special label on humanity. Once the human species starts getting blurred, what will legislation do to the hybrids in labs? A lot of people would say that it depends on if the resulting hybrids are self-aware or not, but no matter where you stand, this will evolve into a slippery slope. If we can give human-dog hybrids human rights, soon, people will insist that mice with human immune systems are human enough for rights.

Oh, by the way,  the U.S. in particular has a bad rap for not giving humans basic rights. Gay marriage comes to mind. This blog alone should be proof that I am not sub-human. Whether I should be on par with a dog-human hybrid or not is up to you.

As the artist herself put it, "These are not simple issues with easy answers: It is one thing to talk about an idea and another to be confronted by the emotional reality of a creature, and yet another to be in need of what that creature might provide." Seriously, discuss below.

Creature Feature: Proboscis Bat.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Joy; this blog would have absolutely nothing to do with such a 'holiday' except maybe putting up a few interesting, rarely-seen swine. So, without further ado, here is something completely unrelated to football: A bat.



The proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris naso) is native to Central and South America. It eats insects like most microbats. It is, however, eaten by the spider Argiope savignyi, so pick who you would root for in a fight wisely. They are usually seen near water in large groups.



Proboscis bats are so named for their long noses. Strange faces are not unknown in the bat world, but these mostly involve huge ears for better sonar reception. It's rare to have a bat with a face that looks like a tapir. I have not seen any information on why (the better to smell you with, my dear mosquito?) but if any bat-lovers can provide, I will gladly update this entry.

As if the nose was not enough, proboscis bats also have strange, wavy stripes down their backs. These stripes serve no known purpose other than to make too-curious bat enthusiasts scratch their heads. They could be for mating, but those stripes might not show up on sonar. Camouflage is the most likely possibility, seeing as they would make the little bat look a tiny bit more like a scrap of bark. Weirdly, these bats can be seen clinging to rocks in perfect single file- your mileage may vary on whether or not this disrupts their camouflage.

When night falls, the colony of proboscis bats flies up from that strange position and over a body of water. They feed at the same spot every night; it is always around water and Rainforest travelers should thank these bats; they're helping to keep the mosquitoes at bay. 

Creature Feature: Chinese Cave Geckos.

Reptile keeping is an addiction. Once you have kept one snake/lizard/turtle, the next move is usually to find another one. Things with scales are deceptively easy to keep, requiring food only once every few days and looking stunning on top of that.

So, a while back, I found an awesome gecko seller at my usual reptile place. This was the same guy who had microgeckos, which I did an entry on a while back. While flipping through the snaps I had taken on my phone, I decided it was time for another gecko. Geckos are just that awesome.



Meet the leopard gecko's evil cousin, the Chinese cave gecko (Goniurosaurus luii). The first specimens came from Hainan, China, in 1996. The locality given is northern Vietnam - close enough. They eat insects, just like leo geckos. As adults, they get up to 9 inches in length - buy your tanks accordingly.

First of all, these things look wicked. Aesthetics are, honestly, the main reason a beginning herper would want to get into them.  The stripes. Those evil red eyes. The dark skin. There is no way to think of anyone who owns this lizard as anything but a badass. Anyone can handle a leopard gecko, but see someone with a cave gecko and you know that person is more hardcore than someone with a leo from Petco.




Chinese cave geckos are the next step up from the leos everybody knows and loves. They require humidity of 60-80% (which leos do not, being desert lizards). Also, they love to climb, meaning that one will have to buy and clean lots of decor. Oh, and no, they do not like being handled. They are the polar opposite of the leopard gecko despite looking a lot alike and being related.

Chinese cave geckos are by no means common in the reptile trade, but you will not have to go all the way to China to get one. Look online for a reliable breeder and care sheets. These are fairly fragile lizards. Despite looking like punky leo geckos, they are really timid animals!

Civic Engagement Update: Year of Biodiversity.

Hey, guys. Remember when I said I might update this blog if something came up in my Environmental Sustainability course? This is one of those updates. It feels like a rather important one:





I am so glad I started this blog when I did. It was started in 2010, the Year of Biodiversity! Just because that year is over does not mean we can stop caring, though. We still have a lot of work to do. 

The video isn't lying, guys. I will not go wolfaboo on you all and say "OMG ALL HOOMINS ARE EVUL," but I will say, "damn, we screwed up." We have been screwing up since we first learned to make fire. Humans have been burning things since the dawn of time; it has little to do with modern technology, going green, or any other such thing. (Modern technology and affluence do affect impact, but the flipside of that coin can be just as bad, if not worse.) The loss of biodiversity is a very real problem.

Other comments:

- I wonder how many people knew about the river dolphin and the hummingbird moth pictured in the video? My teacher actually asked if anyone knew what the hummingbird moth was; I was apparently one of the few who knew. Dare I show him this blog?

- A few species, such as the Tasmanian Tiger,  have already suffered the fate of being alive only on video. Several other predatory mammal species, particularly tigers and polar bears, are probably going to go extinct within a few years. We should think about herbivores, too; it was really a shame to lose the aurochs. Cows don't do them justice. Mouth-brooding frogs were adorable. (There were also numerous insect, bird, and reptile species that were also our bad. We just have a horrible track record with other mammals in particular.) Watch the news; species are dropping like flies.

- I love how they picked only the creepy invasive species. Sparrows (in America), rabbits (in Australia) and dingoes were originally invasive, too. Can't forget feral cats and dogs, either! Oh, and humans are technically invasive species in a lot of areas.

Thoughts? Good ones might get forwarded to my ecologist teacher, so please be awesome. :)

"They Actually Eat That:" Chimney Cakes.

Some "They Actually Eat That" entries are designed to gross you out. Others are made to show that, hey, we eat crap in America. Others still show that there really is no limit to what humans can eat. Now, however, I am adding a fourth category to this list: Things I have found while walking along Devon Avenue (a place apparently known for a large amount of different traditional stores). This one is not even the weirdest thing I have ever seen there, but it did make me scratch my head a little and go "Huh?"



Chimney cakes take donuts to a whole new level of awesome. They come from Transylvania - yes, really. Dracula's homeland has some awesome pastries. Chimney cakes can also be found in Poland, Sweden, Hungary, and Luxembourg. Please do not ask me to transcribe any of those languages, by the way; the cake goes by different names with similar translations in those areas.

Chimney cakes are cooked like gyros: on a rotisserie over an open flame. The dough is wrapped around a wooden spit, glazed with sugar, then cooked (usually over an open flame) for two hours. They are then sometimes coated with toppings such as cinnamon, Nutella, chocolate sprinkles, coconut, and various nuts. If you are feeling particularly sinful, Chimney Cake Island will turn them into sundaes for you. Yes, really.



Chimney cakes have a unique flavor all their own. They have a crunchy outside and a soft inside - again, sort of like a donut. The dough itself has a slightly nutty flavor that reminds me a bit of challah bread. You eat them simply by tearing off pieces. Warning: This makes them probably the most addictive type of cake around.

By the way? Chimney cakes are delicious. A shop on Devon called Chimney Cake Island sells them (as well as Mitchell's ice cream - a brand from the southern 'burbs). They are probably healthier than donuts, but don't quote me on it. Regardless, if you want a different sort of wedding cake, get a few of these. They're better than donuts and a ton of fun to eat!

Creature Feature: Goya the Giant Guinea Pig.

Before I actually get started with this post, a funny story: In an attempt to get used to what will be my new address for a few months, I suggested that a friend and I do a 'guinea pig' trade. My friend then linked me to an adorable, but slightly overpriced guinea pig figurine made by Safari Ltd.- a company that prides itself on super-detailed, anatomically-accurate models. Still, unless it was a giant guinea pig, it might not have been worth seven bucks.

Hey, come to think of it, a giant guinea pig would be kinda awesome.

Copyright Science/Carin L. Cain. It's the only pic out there.

 

At one point, giant guinea pigs (Phoberomys pattersoni ) were actually a thing. They lived in South America (specifically Venezuela) during the Miocene. The area is now desert, but back when Pigzilla would have been around, it would have been a lot wetter and greener. It also would have been loaded with giant predatory birds and crocodiles itching to eat a giant fuzzball.

To be fair, Goya, as the archaeologists affectionately called it, is different from the modern guinea pig in several ways. Imagine a guinea pig the size of a buffalo. Give it a long tail and situate it along a riverbank. It may even have been a herd animal; let's add a few more into your mental image for good measure. Oh, and it was able to walk on its hind legs, most likely. This adds up to a rodent that was approximately 3 meters long and weighed 700 kg, making it the largest rodent ever. The capybara has nothing on a giant guinea pig.

Strangely, there was only one skeleton of this monstrous rodent ever found. The only known specimen was found in Urumaco, Venezuela as a remarkably complete skeleton. Sure, the giant guinea pigs had predators, but it is still unlikely to find only one of this giant creature ever. Can we call 'alien interference' on this one? Maybe; I'm not ruling it out.

A post about giant rodents would not have been complete without Ultra-Peepi.

But really? I know what you're all thinking: When can we get Jurassic Park technology, clone this thing, and make it into one of the best-selling pets ever? It's not that regular guinea pigs aren't cute - we just want one that will give us piggy-back rides for carrots. That is all we ask.

Bio-Art: DNA Music.

Normally, this column would cover visual art. After all, that's what blogs that are not about celebrities are good for: sharing photos around the world. This time, however, the target of the column is...music.



That sound byte is not just any music. It was made using DNA - the stuff that makes you you. Besides the YouTube video above, there are several sites and institutions playing with turning your unique genetics into musical pieces. You have over 25,000 distinct genes. Pick your fave and put it on your iPod. 

So, how do they do it? Let's talk a little bit about DNA first: Deoxyribonucleic acid is twisted into nice, neat little double helices in every single cell of your body. Within these twists are the nitrogen bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. (In RNA, thymine is replaced with uracil.)  When these bases are strung together in a certain pattern, they code for amino acids. A bunch of amino acids creates a protein. A protein, or rather several proteins, make you who you are. Got it? Good; it'll be on the quiz. 

The basic idea behind all forms of DNA music is the same: Take the proteins and use them to create music. This gives you four notes to work with in the nitrogen bases. While this may not seem like a lot, it has a lot more creative potential than one would originally give it credit for. The YouTube video above speaks volumes in that regard.

Now, I've played with the software used to make DNA music. One gene can actually be quite complex; for example, the code for snake venom, for example, can go on for at least ten seconds in musical form. The four nitrogen bases can also be modified to be played by any number of instruments, allowing for a good variety of possible sounds. There are also ways to mix it like one would any other sound file. In the end, you can create music that is very much you...as long as you know the magical sequences of four letters that make it so.