Future Predators of Humans

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Future Predators of Humans
Topic Started: May 17 2009, 06:07 PM (9,979 Views)
rufus	May 17 2009, 06:07 PM Post #1
Newborn Posts: 37 Group: Members Member #171 Joined: May 14, 2009	I rememebr that once in Peter Ward's book he mentions the differnt things that could possibly thin the human population. He mentioned, then dismissed at once the possibility of a new sort of predator. As he correctly observes, any such predator would be quickly elininated or contained if it started preying on our species. Humans would simply not allow ourselves or our children to become food. But that got me to thinking. Suppose some future genetic scientist, engineered some sort of future predator to prey upon humans, perhaps as a way of cleansing the population of :defectives" or undesirables". The species could be genetically programed to hunt only humans as a food source. And it might be programed to eliminate only those humans who carried certain traits such as genetic maladies. This would have to be done in such a way that the human population would not know what was happening, and could not take the action needed to eliminate the predators. This creature would be engineered from humans themselves.The creature could have engineered traits from other animal species, such as camaflauge abilites, and perhaps sonar from bats to stun their prey. BTW, I thought of this idea long before that "future predator" thing from Primeval, and I thought of posting this today, even before I read that other thread. I also thought of making this idea into a story, in which the heor has to find who is releasing and controlling these predators and how to stop them. I usually try not to bash genetic science in my stories, like some authors do, but in this case the plot would demand that I do have a rogue geneticist.

Replies:
sam999	Feb 3 2010, 02:46 PM Post #316
Adult Posts: 886 Group: Members Member #212 Joined: Sep 6, 2009	Margaret Pye Feb 3 2010, 05:49 AM As a genetically-engineered human-eating critter, I'd go for a vaguely housecat-style thing that lives in hives like a bee. Make each one capable of turning into a queen and starting its own hive, and probably parthenogenetic or hermaphroditic, so that you have to kill all of them to get rid of them: but most of the time, most of them have no regard for their own lives. Each one is small enough to easily get away and hide, but a big group of them can kill a human at the cost of a few of them. They should be carnivores, and they should have a very wide range of possible prey species (harder to wipe out that way), but since they were deliberately designed by an evil genius, he or she should have designed them to crave human flesh and prefer it to any other meat. Not sure what they should look like, although I'd go for a basically mammalian bauplan just because it'd be the least effort for the evil genius to design. Maybe something small-monkey-ish, with a sabretooth cat head and big, big claws... somewhere... maybe not on the fingers, maybe give them blades sticking out of the sides of their hands, that'd give them more manual dexterity. Hmm, maybe they need venom. And the hero can be a scientist who invents a biological control agent that stops them... Is it O.K. if I try to draw that guy?
	I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad. Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...


Margaret Pye	Feb 3 2010, 11:37 PM Post #317
Adult Posts: 596 Group: Members Member #267 Joined: Feb 3, 2010 Gender: Female Nationality: Australian	Please do! I'm not claiming any copyright over these creatures - anyone's welcome to borrow them for whatever purpose they like. You know what'd be cool? If their creator was setting them on drug addicts, and thought te was doing the right thing because "I'm cleaning up [insert country here]!" That could make for a beautifully disturbing "there but for the grace of God go I" moment on the part of the hero and the audience. For added effect, have the hero do a few monologues early on about how terrible drugs are and how a solution is desperately needed. Maybe have the hero do charity work with drug addicts... that can be how te notices they're disappearing in large smears of blood. Eugenic motivations are always good for a really despicable villain, but I prefer villains who've taken a basically sympathetic motivation and stretched it to vile extremes.
	My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.


Holben	Feb 5 2010, 04:34 PM Post #318
Rumbo a la Victoria Posts: 14,335 Group: Admin Member #220 Joined: Sep 18, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	I've been off a while, but on Monday, The Species were born. They can rezizt atom bombz- coz they have shields. They are organsims, but nanobots have gone round their bodies, which are implanted by the mother at birth, and these critters have lasers and shields and massive storage capacity and everything you could ask from a space age computer.
	Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."


sam999	Feb 9 2010, 07:01 PM Post #319
Adult Posts: 886 Group: Members Member #212 Joined: Sep 6, 2009	Holbenilord Feb 5 2010, 04:34 PM I've been off a while, but on Monday, The Species were born. They can rezizt atom bombz- coz they have shields. They are organsims, but nanobots have gone round their bodies, which are implanted by the mother at birth, and these critters have lasers and shields and massive storage capacity and everything you could ask from a space age computer. O.K. that made no sense whatsoever.
	I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad. Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...


Margaret Pye	Feb 10 2010, 03:16 AM Post #320
Adult Posts: 596 Group: Members Member #267 Joined: Feb 3, 2010 Gender: Female Nationality: Australian	I don't think it was supposed to.
	My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.


Holben	Feb 10 2010, 04:57 AM Post #321
Rumbo a la Victoria Posts: 14,335 Group: Admin Member #220 Joined: Sep 18, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	That was me without punctuation. They are carnivorous critters with nanobots which perform most organ functions, and provide extra memory space etc. They can also shoot lasers and have shields generated by the bots.
	Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."


T.Neo	Feb 10 2010, 09:58 AM Post #322
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 6,154 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Nanorobots are not immune. And beam weapons are just stupid as small-arm equivalents within an atmosphere. Oh, and forcefields are nonsense.
	A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.


sam999	Feb 10 2010, 02:35 PM Post #323
Adult Posts: 886 Group: Members Member #212 Joined: Sep 6, 2009	That might make a good topic... how to make a forcefield perhapes?
	I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad. Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...


Margaret Pye	Feb 11 2010, 03:52 AM Post #324
Adult Posts: 596 Group: Members Member #267 Joined: Feb 3, 2010 Gender: Female Nationality: Australian	What, organically?
	My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.


Holben	Feb 11 2010, 12:43 PM Post #325
Rumbo a la Victoria Posts: 14,335 Group: Admin Member #220 Joined: Sep 18, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Not organically. Quote: Nanorobots are not immune Not meant to be. They're still destructible, but they have stronger regenerative power and the nanobots strengthen their muscles and skeletons. They can also adapt them for different environs. Quote: And beam weapons are just stupid as small-arm equivalents within an atmosphere. Nah, they just have to be focussed. They lose less energy through the air. Small arms rely on momentum anyway and take minutes to kill, this is clean and precisely targeted. Anyway, a biological MG? Unlikely. Quote: Oh, and forcefields are nonsense. Just because there is no established method doesn't make things nonsense. See many tech discoveries of the 20th century.
	Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."


T.Neo	Feb 11 2010, 01:02 PM Post #326
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 6,154 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Quote: Not meant to be. They're still destructible, but they have stronger regenerative power and the nanobots strengthen their muscles and skeletons. They can also adapt them for different environs. Still doesn't make them invincible. Also, having nanobots inside you doesn't protect you from several things... like vaccuum, acid or extreme heat. And if I hit a human-sized organism with a single .50 calibre round, it will be injured or killed. I don't care if it is covered in nanobots. It is going to be injured or killed. Quote: Nah, they just have to be focussed. They lose less energy through the air. Small arms rely on momentum anyway and take minutes to kill, this is clean and precisely targeted. Anyway, a biological MG? Unlikely. Right... small arms are soooooooooo inefficient, which is why every soldier is equipped with a laser weapon... And the time it takes for a small calibre round to kill depends on the part of the body hit. And even in a pretty nonlethal area, it doesn't matter, since on a battlefield you are aiming to disable immediately, and killing immediately is optional. Also, leaving the target living but injured is advantageous, since it slows down the enemy as they treat his or her injuries. A biological MG is unlikely, but far less likely then a biological laser. I mean, come on... Quote: Just because there is no established method doesn't make things nonsense. See many tech discoveries of the 20th century. Whether it is possible or not does not make it viable. It could be physically viable but in terms of energy usage and maintainance be very unviable. Just use a piece of armorplate. Edited by T.Neo, Feb 11 2010, 01:05 PM.
	A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.


lamna	Feb 11 2010, 02:09 PM Post #327
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	That depends what you mean, if you mean "shoot him until he can't shoot at you" then you are correct. If by disable you meant aiming for non-lethal, then that's not right. And we should not use nanobots. We should just eradicate it so the radiation destroys weapons before they hit.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


T.Neo	Feb 11 2010, 04:18 PM Post #328
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 6,154 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Quote: That depends what you mean, if you mean "shoot him until he can't shoot at you" then you are correct. If by disable you meant aiming for non-lethal, then that's not right. Yeah, that's what I intended. "Shoot him until he can't shoot back" is a pretty good way of putting it. Quote: And we should not use nanobots. We should just eradicate it so the radiation destroys weapons before they hit. I don't quite understand what you're trying to say, as the potential predators have the nanobots, not humanity.
	A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.


lamna	Feb 11 2010, 04:37 PM Post #329
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	That what I meant, the predator should be radioactive. This would let it heal faster and protect it from bullets.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


T.Neo	Feb 12 2010, 08:20 AM Post #330
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 6,154 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Don't buy it. Accelerated healing may allow healing of horrible wounds, but it would come to a point where the organism is simply overwhelmed. And then you still have flamethrowers, high explosive ammunition, etc etc.
	A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.


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