back to article Dinosaur embryos FOUND: Resurrection 'out of the question'* - boffin

Dinosaur embryos wiggled around in their eggs just like the embryos of modern birds, scientists have found. The boffins made the discovery after a cache of fossilised dino bones and eggs were dug up in southwest China. The scientists are hoping to find out more about the Jurassic-era creatures by analysing remnants of complex …

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  1. Joseph Haig

    Nature finds a way

    As long as they only create female dinosaurs I do not see what could possibly go wrong.

    1. Locky

      Re: Nature finds a way

      As long as they write all the controls in Unix, a 12 year old girl will be able to reactivate all the security systems, so it'll be fine

      1. Rampant Spaniel

        Re: Patients?

        heh, that was an sgi crimson iirc? Didn't they do a hollywood and have something like a quadra sat on the desk though with the monitor hooked up to the crimson?

        1. Piro Silver badge

          Re: Patients?

          It was definitely in SGI IRIX system, running File System Navigator. Good times.

    2. James Micallef Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Nature finds a way

      “resurrecting a dinosaur is out of the question."

      No problem, if there are gaps in teh DNA just fill them in with frog DNA. What could possibly go wrong?

  2. jai

    "resurrecting a dinosaur is out of the question"

    Of course, that's exactly what they would say, while they're quietly buying up an island in the pacific and installing their top secret "research facility / safari park" before anyone notices...

    1. Rampant Spaniel

      Re: Patients?

      Check France, they have been acting a little shifty lately. Perhaps trying to find a dino frog with huge legs?

      1. Armando 123
        Black Helicopters

        Re: Patients?

        France always acts a little shifty. When they STOP acting shifty, worry.

    2. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: "resurrecting a dinosaur is out of the question"

      And that's quite enough of the politics. [shudder]

    3. P. Lee
      Thumb Up

      Re: "resurrecting a dinosaur is out of the question"

      >Of course, that's exactly what they would say, while they're quietly buying up an island in the pacific and installing their top secret "research facility / safari park" before anyone notices...

      Somewhere near where they had the radiation leak in Japan. That would make sure no tourists accidentally landed there.

    4. WorsleyNick
      Happy

      Re: "resurrecting a dinosaur is out of the question"

      the resurrected mother's much delayed burial service is next Wednesday.

  3. Schultz

    So there is not enough DNA to recreate a dinosaur from its bones...

    but maybe there is enough genetic information in living organisms to extrapolate. Go find that DNA preserving sponge creature that forgot to throw out the ancient DNA of something the ancient ancestor ate :).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So there is not enough DNA to recreate a dinosaur from its bones...

      That's so crazy, it just might work!

  4. Don Jefe
    Happy

    Defuse The Situation

    I think they should resurrect dinosaurs & just release them en masse to the wild. Fighting off giant predators would not only defuse many global tensions it would also add a bit of excitement to boring periods at the office (like now...).

    1. Cratig

      Re: Defuse The Situation

      Boss, could you please help.

      I can't write this function up if that pesky pterodactyl keeps banging on the window asking for more rats!

      1. C Yates
        Pint

        Re: Defuse The Situation

        "Raptors can open doors, but they are slowed by them. Using the floor plan on the next page, plot a route through the building, assuming raptors take 5 minutes to open the first door and half the time for each subsequent door. Remember, raptors run at 10 m/s and they do not know fear."

        This *forced* me to look up xkcd raptor cartoons ;)

        http://xkcd.com/292/

        http://xkcd.com/87/

        http://xkcd.com/758/

        http://xkcd.com/135/

    2. Dave 32
      Coat

      Re: Defuse The Situation

      Might be good to release a batch of them in North Korea. Not only would it give the Nork's military something useful to do, but it would also be a new food source. That would have to be a win-win situation!

      Dave

      P.S. I'll get my coat. It's the one with the "Tastes like chicken" labels in the pocket.

  5. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Coat

    Dinosaur resurrection out of the question!

    They are all chicken!

    1. Robert Helpmann??
      Childcatcher

      Re: Dinosaur resurrection out of the question!

      They are all chicken!

      They all taste like chicken!

      ... Fixed that for you.

      1. C Yates
        Happy

        Re: Dinosaur resurrection out of the question!

        At least it's a break from horse :)

        1. Pookietoo

          Re: At least it's a break from horse

          Horse is tasty. A pub near where I used to live got done for serving horse, they had a reputation for serving excellent steak at reasonable prices.

  6. Captain Underpants

    There's a good article in the April issue of National Geographic about the current state of play of the technology involved in cloning extinct species, and as I understand it the current approach is to pick a similar species, modify individuals of that species so that their genetic payload corresponds to that of the species you want to breed, then have them mate. The idea is that it's possible to create certain gene sequences and implant them as required, but you need a suitable recipient for the idea to work.

    Apparently there are folk working on the passenger pigeon and the sabre-toothed tiger, so while dinosaurs might be out we could at some point see formerly-extinct species revived through the unholy artsscience.

    (For those interested, the article is here.)

    1. Stuart Moore
      WTF?

      ... Now I'm worried.

      Sabre toothed pigeons will make trafalgar square a very different experience...

      1. Captain DaFt

        Re: ... Now I'm worried.

        Don't worry, they're already developing sabre toothed wooly chihuahuas to combat the sabre toothed pigeon.

        What could possibly go wrong?

      2. Gavin King

        Re: ... Now I'm worried.

        But think how cool it would be to have a passenger tiger!

      3. Pirate Dave Silver badge
        Pirate

        Re: ... Now I'm worried.

        But, it might go the other way and we'd have Flying Tigers that don't need aviation fuel.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Coat

          Re: ... Now I'm worried.

          Tiger Airways would file a lawsuit.

    2. Pookietoo

      re: Apparently there are folk working on

      I wonder what happened to the mammoth/elephant splicing that was announced a year or two back?

  7. peyton?
    Headmaster

    DNA half-life?

    Really doesn't have any meaning in the traditional sense (i.e., radioactive decay). The stability of a molecule is going to vary greatly depending on environmental conditions. In sub-zero conditions, some studies have indicated DNA's "half-life" could be well over 100,000 years.

  8. David 45

    Age

    A-ha! This can't possibly be true. After all, the religious creationist nutters are quite adamant that the earth is only a few thousand years old and who would dare to disagree with that, for fear of being struck down by a thunderbolt or coming to a premature end, compelled to live in an oven for all eternity? (Snigger)

    1. P. Lee
      Angel

      Re: Age

      You mock, but did you read how they died?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "resurrecting a dinosaur is out of the question"

    Yes, but I fancy a change from horsemeat

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    Resurrecting dinos is out of the question.....

    Then who is Megashark going to fight next??

    1. David Pollard

      Re: Resurrecting dinos is out of the question.....

      But I want a woolly mammoth, please.

  11. dssf

    Of Apes and Men? Dinosaurs?

    http://www.necn.com/04/11/13/Ancient-creature-mixed-human-apelike-tra/landing_scitech.html?&apID=ad866428c3ce44239b62189d1761851d

    "NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have gained new insights into an extinct South African creature with an intriguing mix of human and apelike traits, and apparently an unusual way of walking. But they still haven't pinned down where it fits on our evolutionary family tree.

    It will take more fossil discoveries to sort that out.

    The human branch of the evolutionary tree, called Homo, is thought to have arisen from a group of ancient species called australopithecines. The newly studied species is a member of this group, and so its similarities to humans are enticing for tackling the riddle of how Homo appeared.

    It's called Australopithecus sediba (aw-STRAL-oh-PITH-uh-kus se-DEE-bah), which means "southern ape, wellspring." It lived some 2 million years ago, and it both climbed in trees and walked upright. Its remains were discovered in 2008 when the 9-year-old son of a paleoanthropologist accidently came across a bone in South Africa.

    A 2011 analysis of some of A. sediba's bones showed a combination of human and more apelike traits, like a snapshot of evolution in action. That theme continues in six papers published online Thursday by the journal Science, which complete the initial examination of two partial skeletons and an isolated shinbone."

  12. Michael Dunn
    Happy

    Slight correction!

    "which dated back to the Jurassic period and are 190 to 197 million years old." I think you'll find that should now be 190 to 197 million and three years old!

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