| From: | Guido Ferraro <crs@****.UNITO.IT> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | SUBMISSION: Bio-armor Lore |
| Date: | Tue, 25 Apr 1995 18:09:02 +0100 |
Bio-armor lore
G-02
--------
>>>>>[Hoi chummers. I've posted some rather twisted stuff I found on
the last online issue of _Nature_ magazine. Scan it and add your own
notes as usual.]<<<<<
--Wired E. Coyote (14:44:17/04-23-55)
_______________________________________________________________________
BIO-ARMOR
New insights in symbiosis
A brief interview with Dr. Mark J. Steedman and Prof. Sean E. Clark,
PLR team coordinators,
by Lucas S. Magnum
_Nature_ reports on the latest theoretical proposition brought
forth by the Paranatural Life Research team at MIT&M
_______________________________________________________________________
NATURE: The academical community holds in great respect your studies on
paranormal beings. The PLR was the first group ever to observe gremlins
in detail.
CLARK: Yes, but for the most part the merit should go to Mark. Only him
was patient enough to stand up amidst that wave of chaos and write down
the results.
STEEDMAN: The amount of damage done was awful... <laughs softly>
NATURE: Dr. Steedman, what exactly is a "bio-armor" ?
STEEDMAN: It's a classification. The term encompasses every specialized
symbiotic lifeform able to bestow on its host one or more (para)natural
abilities, targeted as a response against hostile environments.
As you can see, it' s still a broad viewpoint: the process of symbiosis
is inherently a strategy for survival under harsh conditions, being the
mutually beneficial living together of different species of organisms.
NATURE: Yes.
STEEDMAN: I think we should iron out a more definite classification, as
the Paterson's Field Guide Foundation suggested. In my opinion, the key
terms are "specialized" and "response"; moreover, no one is too
willing
to call unicellular algae or fungi "armor" without concrete evidence of
defensive abilities beneficial to the host.
NATURE: What about the Protean ?
STEEDMAN: I'd never call that a bio-armor. It's essentially a parasitic
entity, harmful to other organisms.
CLARK: But you stroke a nerve with this question. You see, the point of
our research is whether the process of symbiosis can be used to enhance
the natural abilities of the involved lifeforms, given the influence of
the Awakening and the need to survive in a tougher environment.
STEEDMAN: We call this phenomenon "bio boost". Our hope is to gain more
insight into its inner workings to benefit medical research: think of a
symbiotic healing cocoon able to speed up natural recovery, even to the
point of regeneration.
CLARK: An useful form of treatment for magically active people. <nods>
NATURE: Hmm... would bio boost also increase the offensive capabilities
of a being ? You mentioned "response against hostile environments".
CLARK: The potential for abuse is here, but I really can't envision any
serious "bio booster" weapon in the near future. I've heard some voices
about studies on biological lasers at Willamette: pure nonsense.
STEEDMAN: Right, we'll probably need decades just to see a prototype of
our healing cocoon. Genengineering is much slower than cybertechnology.
NATURE : And there's still magic around to contend with, of course.
CLARK: Yes. How does symbiosis relate with astral energy, for example ?
This looks like a very long journey, but I believe it's worth it.
STEEDMAN: I agree.
NATURE: We'll see, then. Thank you for this interview.
--Gillian
crs@*****.cisi.unito.it
