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bale
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:47 pm 
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http://gizmodo.com/5863078/engineered-a ... lds-humans
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In his Netherlands laboratory, virologist Ron Fouchier was experimenting with the avian flu virus to see how it could become even more virulent. (Red flag.) His research involved spreading it throughout a population of ferrets, and he noticed that as the virus reproduced, it adapted to spread even faster. (RED FLAG.) Not worried about ferret flu? Previous research has shown that any strains of influenza that can pass between ferrets can also pass between humans. (RED FLAAAAAAAAAG.) Ten generations later, his efforts had created an airborne strain with the power could kill half the human population. (RED **** FLAG, DUDE!)
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Talya
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:55 pm 
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Yeah. I'm normally on the "All scientific advancement is ultimately good" and even a bit of GlaDOS "We do what we must, because we can" bandwagon, but...holy **** ****, man, not all scientific endeavor represents progress. Bury that.

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Arathain Kelvar
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:57 pm 
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Did you say red flag or Randall Flagg?
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FarSky
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:58 pm 
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Talya wrote:
Yeah. I'm normally on the "All scientific advancement is ultimately good" and even a bit of GlaDOS "We do what we must, because we can" bandwagon, but...holy **** ****, man, not all scientific endeavor represents progress. Bury that.

Yeah, this. Burn it. Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

In other news, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT‽
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Stathol
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:05 pm 
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Understanding what specifically makes a given strain of influenza more or less virulent than another is potentially beneficial research but one does wonder why you choose to experiment with the "more" side of the equation...

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Elmarnieh
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:09 pm 
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If one guy could do it our governments already have.

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Sam
PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:30 pm 
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They should crate him up, stuff those ferrets up his rectum, and shoot it all into space. :thumbs:
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Lex Luthor
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:33 pm 
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Half? I doubt it and there's no way they could prove it from their current data, considering they haven't even infected 1 person with their lab concoction.
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Micheal
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:40 pm 
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Do you really want them to test that hypothesis Lex?

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Aegnor
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:08 am 
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I think his point in doing it was to show how relatively easy it was. If it is that easy, then we need to figure out a way to defend against it, or figure out some way to do something about it. Essentially...telling someone "Hey, we need to do something about this, it isn't that hard to create something that could kill half the population of the earth!" is not near as effective as if you add to the end of that "in fact, I've done just that. If I released this virus I developed, half the world population would be dead". That gets people's attention.
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Diamondeye
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:14 am 
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It took the guy 10 years to do it, and most likely the death toll is based on the worst case scenario; although even 10% of the estimate would be hideous. It's not exactly easy to do, though.

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bale
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:48 am 
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hell, if this virus hit india and china, considering the density of their major cities, the virus could take out a huge % of the world's population very quickly
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Hopwin
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:07 am 
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Vladimirr
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:21 am 
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So if half the world's population died off, that would put us back to, what, the 1970s populationwise?

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bale
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:47 am 
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roughly, I'd say it looks closer to 1960's if this wikipedia graph is anywhere near accurate :?
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Squirrel Girl
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:48 am 
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Vladimirr wrote:
So if half the world's population died off, that would put us back to, what, the 1970s populationwise?


Something like that.

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Hopwin
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:50 am 
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Vladimirr wrote:
So if half the world's population died off, that would put us back to, what, the 1970s populationwise?

Productivity per person would go through the roof though.

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Vladimirr
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:10 am 
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Hopwin wrote:
Productivity per person would go through the roof though.


That's what I'm thinking. Is this part of the new "jobs creation" plan?

EDIT - 1960s looks more accurate, you're right.
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Aegnor
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:48 am 
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Diamondeye wrote:
It took the guy 10 years to do it, and most likely the death toll is based on the worst case scenario; although even 10% of the estimate would be hideous. It's not exactly easy to do, though.


Where did you read it took 10 years to do it? And easy is a relative term.
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Arathain Kelvar
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:32 pm 
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Hopwin wrote:
Vladimirr wrote:
So if half the world's population died off, that would put us back to, what, the 1970s populationwise?

Productivity per person would go through the roof though.


Maybe. Depends on the distribution of the dead. If population centers were decimated, and only the rural half was spared, then we'd lose a lot of industrial know-how.

Likewise, if China was hit hard, and Europe largely spared, per-person productivity would plummet :P
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Vindicarre
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:54 pm 
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Aegnor wrote:
Diamondeye wrote:
It took the guy 10 years to do it, and most likely the death toll is based on the worst case scenario; although even 10% of the estimate would be hideous. It's not exactly easy to do, though.


Where did you read it took 10 years to do it? And easy is a relative term.


I think he's confusing "ten generations" with "ten years".

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NephyrS
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:34 pm 
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Interestingly, Ferets are one of the only animals that influenza effects/transmits to and from like humans. Makes them invaluable for influenza research. No real mutation of the virus necessary, from my understanding.

I'm glad one of my side projects is influenza antivirals.

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Lex Luthor
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:10 pm 
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Humans have dealt with thousands of viruses and we have extremely strong immune systems, I doubt someone could make one that works well enough to kill half the population in their first attempt. Before they could make the second attempt they would be neutralized by U.S. forces.
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NephyrS
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:49 pm 
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You underestimate how much of the work the virus does for you. All you have to do is let it go to work unfettered.

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Mookhow
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:50 pm 
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