Thursday, July 28, 2005
Recent Lifeforms
Researchers looking at a fruit fly infesting honeysuckle plants have found that the flies seem not only to have speciated very quickly, but also to have done so via hybridization of two parent species - something that is traditionally held as the domain of plants. This is a really cool idea. Most times (that I know of) when you get two animal species interbreeding, the best you can hope for is a sterile offspring, like a mule or liger. Also, the work indicates that host selection plays a much bigger role than thought in animal speciation.
On the opposite end of everything, Japanese scientists have built a female android, who can apparently pass as human for a short time. Calling her "Repliee Q1," however, may be one of the least tasteful jokes in all the history of robotics (with the possible exception of the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland, which is just sick).
On the opposite end of everything, Japanese scientists have built a female android, who can apparently pass as human for a short time. Calling her "Repliee Q1," however, may be one of the least tasteful jokes in all the history of robotics (with the possible exception of the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland, which is just sick).
