How to breed a minotaur, step one.

WalterMitty — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:38:49 -0800

Researchers at Newcastle University have created a human-cow hybrid embryo. While previous posts on MetaFilter have addressed successful monkey cloning and the first kid to have three parents, researchers at Newcastle University have successfully created human-cow hybrid embryos as a source of stem cells for research. The controversy has been brewing for several years in the UK, where legislation and public opinion have weighed in for and against hybrid embryos. While the Catholic Church has opined that these experiments are "of Frankenstein proportion", scientists claim that this research will help them gain insights into diseases including cancer and Parkinson's Disease, as well as overcoming a shortage of available human eggs. The process used - the injection of skin cell-derived human DNA into a cow ovary - is different from what is termed a "full hybrid", which involves the fusion of sperm and egg, which is decidedly illegal. Despite the Church's distaste for embryos, its distaste for abortion continues to be even stronger. The scientists, OTOH, promise that any and all such embryos are destroyed within 14 days of creation, and that these embryos will never be allowed to come to term. BBC and Guardian Q&As on hybrid embryos. Could this be the first step to creating a minotaur or a chimera? Perhaps the debate regarding a minotaur versus a centaur can finally be resolved.

Who would win in a fight, a minotaur with a trident or a centaur with a crossbow?

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:33:43 -0800

Who would win in a fight: A minotaur with a trident or a centaur with a crossbow? Surely one of the great questions of of our time. Luckily the cast of Battlestar Galactica is on hand to answer. Basic cable scifi show not credible? Ask the cast of The Wire instead. The centaur seems to be ahead in the straw poling, but perhaps Brian Posehn is right: When a minotaur and a centaur fight, we all win.

MetaFilter posts tagged with minotaur

How to breed a minotaur, step one.

Who would win in a fight, a minotaur with a trident or a centaur with a crossbow?