FFF55. Experiment

“Don’t be stupid”, the man in the white coat said, “They’re just dumb animals. They don’t matter and they can’t possibly understand what we’re doing to them.”
But  X19108 was born in the laboratory and had seen his mother, his sister and friends suffer at this man’s hands.
And he'd learned how a hypodermic worked.

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A recent review of laboratory use of non-human primates (monkeys) in the UK revealed that almost a tenth of the projects involving them between 1997 and 2007 produced no significant scientific, medical or social benefit. But we still use them - and new EU laws that are due to be introduced in 2013 will reduce their protection even further.

OK. Now I've depressed you, hop over the see the G-Man to read other people's Friday Fifty Fives.

Intergalactic conversation

We could be in the middle of an intergalactic conversation and we wouldn't even know.
Michio Kaku, US theoretical physicist.

Voice 1. So how long do you think we should give it?
Voice 2. I'm not sure. It's not really going the way we thought.
Voice 1. Obviously not. Do you think it ever will? If we just carry on observing will it produce any new results?
Voice 2. Well, we're only going to know that if we do it.
Voice 1. So do we carry on and see what develops or do we quit now?
Voice 2. They are fascinating to watch. You never really know what they're going to do next, and all that activity in the middle is clearly important.
Voice 1. No, I don't think so. They've done that kind of thing before and it's never really changed much in the total system.
Voice 2. But I thought maybe this time..
Voice 1. Why is is going to be any different this time? They're making a lot of noise and producing a lot of waste, but they aren't actually creating anything, are they? And I think it's making the whole system unstable.
Voice 2. What do you mean?
Voice 1. Haven't you noticed that the matrix has been vibrating? That's made the water supply slosh around quite a bit. And then there have been these puffs of debris near the top. I think the whole thing is going to collapse on itself pretty soon anyway.
Voice 2. So do you think we should quit?
Voice 3. If we want to get more funding we really need to plan some sort of next stage, and I don't think the funders will settle for another round of just watching.
Voice 1. So you're saying we should cut our losses and start again?
Voice 3. I think so. It'll be easier to get grants for a new build. They won't want to pour any more money into something that's done nothing for millennia.
Voice 1. Right then, that's settled. Let's start the final recording stage and then, when we've got all that we can out of it, we junk it and start again.
Voice 2. Shame.
Voice 1. And meanwhile, get some grant applications in for Earth version 2.1.