5 Intriguing Things: Tuesday, 11/26
The chicken of tomorrow, personal genomics, the Max Headroom hack, suckee beebish, and the frankenturken.
1. Meet the Chicken of Tomorrow! Courtesy of the poultry journalism historian, Emily Pawley.
"Yes, sir, make mine chicken. The chicken of tomorrow that is. [trumpet blast]"
"Firstly, the FDA is being typically heavy-handed, scare-mongering about potential mastectomies rather than demonstrated harms. Secondly, I think the risk of @23andMe actually being shut down is very low, and I'm not worried about losing my raw data. Thirdly, while sympathetic to @23andMe's mission, I think this letter suggests a massive failure of management on their part. Finally, I think health-focused consumer genomics is dying anyway - partly thanks to FDA, but mostly due to lack of market interest."
3. The strangest (and maybe best) TV-signal takeover of all time.
"A squat, suited figure sputtered into being, and bounced around maniacally. Wearing a ghoulish rubbery mask with sunglasses and a frozen grin, the mysterious intruder looked like a cross between Richard Nixon and the Joker. Static hissed through the signal; behind him, a slab of corrugated metal spun hypnotically. This was not part of the regularly scheduled broadcast. "
"To the initial broth thus prepared there is added a polysaccharide, which is an extract of a species of red seaweed known as furcellaria of the agarophyte family. The selected seaweed is separately prepared, the powdered product thereof being first dissolved in a small quantity of cold -water to achieve a paste-like consistency. It is then simmered in hot water under controlled temperatures no higher than 212° F."
"Warren and Scott in 1935 crossed chickens with turkeys by artifical insemination. They obtained fertile eggs from both the chicken and turkey hens, but most embryos died at an early age. No living offspring were obtained. Quinn, Burrows, and Byerly also attempted the turkey-chicken and the turkey-chicken crosses with much the same results."