Curiosities: spinners and tales spun.

It’s January. Normally cabin fever could be blamed for the weirdness. Soggy will have to be an acceptable substitute. This new year is already floating out some “First in Show.”

Made for anything: sun, wind, water, insects. (S.Lebrigand/Commons.wikimedia.org)

Willful winds are whipping up trouble out of assigned order.

For your amusement in the Atlantic, Alex the first hurricane season of the year. Unusual, but not unheard of. In 1955 there was Alice, and before that there was what’s-her-name in 1938. Luckily it’s way out there, headed to Greenland’s cold waters which will smack some sense into the upstart. Hopefully, the winds and waves will affect few. Hurricane warnings have been issued for the central and eastern Azores. (NASA’s eye on this storm here and an animated video of Alex’s development)

Tropical storm tracks.1985-2005 /NASA/USPD/Commons.wikimedia.org)

And not to be outdone, the Pacific Ocean is hosting the loopy, erratic Pali, which is breaking records as the earliest hurricane ever recorded in the Central Pacific Basin. Currently Pali has a well-defined eye with storm bands and maximum winds of 90 miles (140 kilometers) per hour, but it seems undecided whether to sustain being a hurricane. It was a cat-2 on Jan 12, but now a cat-1 storm. Not too near Hawaii, though.  And if the timing isn’t odd enough,  if Pali wanders south and crosses the equator, the hurricane would change and become a first in history of recorded tropical cyclones to do that. (Picture/ NASA’s take on Pali here.)

El Nino: galoshes and Wellies. Noted. Got the memo.

Got carried away by storms.(Kidnapped by Whirlwind the Whistler / USPD/Commons.wikimedia.org)

Speaking of strangeness and isolated islands, Remember that movie The Island of Doctor Moreau with Marlon Brando? (summary)

Like many things that have come to pass, science fiction is close to science fact. It has to do with human and animal DNA, growing organs, and medical advancement.

MIT Technology Review Article. (Biomedicine News.) “Human-Animal Chimeras Are Gestating on U.S. Research Farms.”  “A radical new approach to generating human organs is to grow them inside pigs or sheep.”

Squirming a bit? What if some of the human transplanted DNA cells migrated to the animal’s brain? I do confess I, too, would worry about “The specter of an intelligent mouse stuck somewhere screaming, ‘I want to get out’ …”

Doctor Moreau explores that potential. Check out some movie quotes to ponder. Might give you pause – and maybe a few shivers….

You know how some authors seem to see the future….

“Hey, the show’s about to start. Where the grub?”(K.Rosebraugh/Commons.wikimedia.org)

Of course the animal advocates will be on the front lines protesting: Worse than eating meeeeeat.

Raising animal only to kill them by harvesting a “grown” organ for transplant so a human can live.

PETA will love that.

But what if patients, once cured, were forced to take home the bacon?

Is there a way to grow an organ, surgically remove it for transplant, then retire the donor animal to live out its’ days in peace instead of in pieces in return for its noble assistance?

“OK, Patient X, yes, we can get you a new body part, but then you must take your donor animal home and treat it as part of the family for the rest of its natural life. Animal welfare agents will be making home visits to see that your brave little thing is being treated well. Now do you want a pig or a sheep? Pigs are smart, but lambs might be better couch companions with their cozy fleece.”

“I don’t care if it does share your DNA. Get it off my pillow.” (Universal/USPD/Commons.wikimedia.org)

Well, you can see where things are going.

Would subdivisions, condos, and neighborhoods be forced to change their livestock bans? After all, these donor animals are heroes of a sort.

Would there be a new home trend for donor animal accommodations?

Could the Chimera of mythology and legends be the next high fashion pet?

Winter shadows splash on walls and mind.

Water well, and who knows what in time.

Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge

What do you mean housing livestock is against HOA deed restrictions? But it’s like part of her. (Universal/USPD/Commons.wkimedia.org)

 

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