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| Future Engineered Humans | |
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| Topic Started: May 17 2009, 06:13 PM (1,226 Views) | |
| rufus | May 17 2009, 06:13 PM Post #1 |
Newborn
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One possibility fpr futre engineered humans Dixon left out of his Man After Man is a human engineered for flight. As Brian Stableford observed in Future Man, a flying human would ahve to have greatly reduced body size, and reduced brian size. I once thought of two species of evolved humans derived form engineered stook; one is a flying primate with elongated jaws and fangs and talons for grabbing prye, much like a bird of prey. The other is a small species of humanoids adapted for underground dwelling, with enlarged ears for sonar, and stunted eyes. I can envison a vast desert-like future environment, where the latter is preyed on by the former. |
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| Canis Lupis | May 17 2009, 09:32 PM Post #2 |
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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Pretty cool. So is this for your own version of "Man After Man"? If so, keep up the good work. But if this is a place to discuss GE post-humans, here's my nine for a book I'm writing (keep in mind that these were genetically engineered by the Mexicans to aid them in winning a war against a tyrannical America): 1) Homo Sapiens Arachnidae - Scorpans - Southern Africa, but they move to the Sahara (the Northern Lands) - they have hard skin that is more bullet proof than human skin and a long scorpion tail to help in hand to hand combat. 2) Homo Sapiens Monkeri - Monkens - Central Africa (the Center Lands) - they have furry skin, a long prehensile tail, and a large nose (so they can smell things better). 3) Homo Sapiens Cnidaros - Jellians - coasts, small islands, and shallow seas - they have translucent skin and stinging cells all over their body. There are three additional powers, but they vary from one individual to another. One power (glowing in the dark) is present in half of all Jellian individuals. The second power (regeneration) is present in three out of twenty Jellian individuals. The last power (making yourself younger) is in two out of twenty Jellian individuals. Five out of twenty Jellian individuals have note of these three powers. 4) Homo Sapiens Vultarus - Condorans - Southern North America and Mexico, but they can be seen all over the world - they have hollow bones, feathers all over their body (save for their hands, feet, and head), human hands on their wings, feet like a chimpanzee’s (only more like those of birds), and a human head with a beak for a mouth. 5) Homo Sapiens Suchorsus - Gatorans - Southern Asia (the Spade) - they have thick skin, can swim easily, and have really strong jaws, which are perfect for hand to hand combat. 6) Homo Sapiens Anolus - Anolans - North America - they can change the color of their skin to perfectly match the background and they have a long tongue. 7) Homo Sapiens Naji - Cobrans - South America - their poison is colorless and odorless. They are far more animalistic than any of the Others. They can sense heat. They have a long serpentine body and walk around the ground quadropedally. 8) Homo Sapiens Tustudin - Hutoises - Europe - they were created to see if human and animal genes could actually be crossed. They have a turtle shell on their back and are very slow. 9) Homo Sapiens Dromidarius- Camelans - Asia, north of the Himalayas - they can survive for extremely long periods of time without water. They have wide hoofed feet and two humps on their back. |
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| agatharights | May 17 2009, 10:21 PM Post #3 |
Prime Specimen
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Ooh, does anybody remember my Mermatees? |
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| Carlos | May 18 2009, 02:10 AM Post #4 |
Adveho in me Lucifero
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I'm afraid a small brain isn't very likely. True, there would be a reduction from the current size, but flying animals need to have fairly large brains, as flight requires an intense nervous system in order to have fast reflexes. Thats why intelligence evolved fairly easily within birds, with parrots and corvids being the top examples |
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| rufus | May 18 2009, 02:38 AM Post #5 |
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Newborn
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Sort of. These ideas I've had around for years, so thye now seem pretty stale.I might still make them into a book though. I'd enjoy reading yours, as well. are you a published author(I'm still not)? If not, I wish you good luck.
These sound like the Waz-dons of Pal-ul-don.
They can already make mice and rabbits with day-glo fur, so this is highly possible.
I know most flying vertebrates are fairly intelligent, and pterosaurs might have had the largest brains of all reptiles. But Imeant a reduced brain size compared with what humans have now. |
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| Canis Lupis | May 18 2009, 10:25 PM Post #6 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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I almost was. But my story was kicked from the magazine because it was too long. I'm working on some short stories now, particularly one about red tides and another about committing the perfect crime. Never heard of the Waz-dons of Pal-ul-don, so I didn't steal the idea from them. Originally, H. S. Monkeri was supposed to be H. S. Gorilli, but I didn't really see a militaristic point in crossing humans with gorillas. Monkeys are more agile (and just as intelligent), so that adds some value to them. BTW, question for my novel: how much natural evolution (not GE) can take place in a population in 100 years? A reduced brain weight would be the best thing for a flying species, but, if it's possible, don't decrease its intelligence as you decrease its weight. As JohnFaa said: aerial and arboreal creatuares tend to be intelligent. That won't change if humans are genetically engineered. Can't wait to see more of your species sometime rufus. You won't be doing any vacuumorph-like things will you? 'Cause I hope not. |
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| rufus | May 18 2009, 11:58 PM Post #7 |
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Newborn
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Don't care much for vaccumorph-like things. You really need a planet to make it interesting. I I don't know how far a popluation can evolve in 100 years; I would guess not very much. Certainly no enough for any extreme forms to develop. If there was some kind of extreme evolutionary pressure---again, I'm not sure. As for the Waz-dons of Pal-ul-don: http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/phobeg/Pal2.htm |
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| Temporary | May 19 2009, 05:32 PM Post #8 |
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Transhuman
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The reasons for them to come into existence now seem very, well, implausible. But the tech is scientifically accurate, so I'll mention it. H+-- An extremely distant step in human evolution, born to live both in space and on planets. Some organic bits and pieces are left, but mostly the organism is technological. -A pressurized exoskeleton surrounds most of the creature, keeping it in a fluid-breathing environment (Fluid breathing when dealing with G-force at a high level, is the most efficent. It allows the forces to be expeirenced slower, so less stress on the person at any given moment) -The organism's body has had the skin genetically altered to have high amounts of melanin, and then coated with special materials, the blood is mostly replaced with nannotech where possible (This makes less soft-tissue, making this organism highly resistant to radiation) -The exoskeleton is fitted with reactive metals for movement (these are metals that change shape under electrical charges, replicated a muscle), cameras and microphones sending all information possible through a computer and into an optical and ochlear implant replacing the eyes and ears, then to the brain (cameras/microphones takes in far more information then we do, the computer then helps simplify the data before it reaches the brain, the cameras give a 360 degree view. this also has the added bit of getting rid of eyes and ears, limiting the soft tissue even more) -Most of the digestive track is gone, replaced by a series of chemicals that are injected directly into the organism by the exoskeletal system. -Most organs were replaced my mechanical counterparts, do to the radiation problem, and in space they degenerate. Muscles and bones have had this problem mostly already handled by the exoskeleton -The Brain is the most different. It is now composed of genetically the most effiencet biological parts, and the ones that machines could out perform replaced. New nerve cells were added by injecting stem cells, helping to let the body use new limbs (which, can be added or taken off at will) and a larger skull was surgically made to accomadate this. The capillaries have tiny wires to help the brain process information faster and an electrode, or possibly other device, is surgically inserted to keep the mood elevated. Finally, a computer chip was added to the brain to allow instant communication between on organism and another, a sort of techlepathy. |
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| CarrionTrooper | May 20 2009, 09:16 AM Post #9 |
I require more vespene gas?!?
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All of you are thinking of genetic modifications, but I have only heard of mechanical/robotic engineering on Temporary's idea. How about human engineering in a more digital way? Hardware existing as interchangable bodies, while the mind is free to occupy or move from a hardware to another? If we could find a way to transmit data faster wirelessly, we could in theory ditch our organic bodies while in return getting a spaceship for a 'body'. If we could somehow digitalize the mind... |
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| Temporary | May 20 2009, 04:38 PM Post #10 |
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Transhuman
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Well, genetic modification is fine and dandy for our pets, but humans are selfish, we want to use the improvements we pay for. I do expect genetic alteration to a point, but cybernetic implants seem more likely when I look at human behavior. As for Mind-Uploading, that gives us a lot more options. Those machines we use to go explore environments we can't live in, we could be those machines. Instantly move anywhere on the planet like E-mail. That does give us a lot of options, but until we can completely model the human brain it doesn't seem possible. We may see it in 120 years. |
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| rufus | May 21 2009, 10:03 PM Post #11 |
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Newborn
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Here's another future human idea: tiny, grub-feeding or nector feeding primates, with startlingly human faces. They would have a nector-feeding tongue, or an elongated finger, like an aye-aye or epidendrosaurus. |
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| Canis Lupis | May 22 2009, 02:28 PM Post #12 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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Fairly plausible. About how big is it? If you're still debating between grub and nectar, how about both? This way, it could still eat even when the flowers aren't in bloom. Plus, the mouth parts are basically the same. You just need small teeth if it's a grub-eater. |
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| lamna | May 22 2009, 02:34 PM Post #13 |
 
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Fondly. Chikikikiiiihokichikakahi! Here are some ideas. Economic people that need less food, though the useful of these will provability wane as the world gets better and people who need this will get better conditions. Assuming we continue to have too much food in the developed world, giving people faster metabolisms would probably be an advantage, plus it could mean they are more muscular. Denser bone would also be a good idea now we can afford it. Heck go the whole hog and make a person adapted for higher gravity. Even though there is nowhere to settle we could get too with higher gravity. High Grav people are awesome! |
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| rufus | May 22 2009, 08:20 PM Post #14 |
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Newborn
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It could use its elongated finger to get to the pollen, then lick it off. |
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| Canis Lupis | May 22 2009, 10:20 PM Post #15 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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It could. And with that method, it would be easier to switch from grub-eating to nectar-eating. |
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