Jul 16 2011: I agree with this talk completely. This is how real engineering is done, trial and error. Parameters are tried until they are optimized. This said, however, the initial thing that is tried out is not usually something random; that is based upon careful design. And, modifications to the item keeps being modified through design principles, not a random selection. So, trial and error works, but obviously, random tries at making things would not work (which I'm not sure Tim really understood).
Jun 19 2011: Since DNA, the chemical material of genes, is identical in all creatures; it is more than possible to insert a non-human gene into a human genome (i.e. human genetic material). However,the functioning of genes to produce an actual visible result is too complicated; it would take more than simply splicing in a particular set of genes into a human genome. However, this is a kind of technical challenge.
Hybrid creatures would need to be spliced in fetal form though as a total organism is too difficult to change genetic material of when developed, as humans for example contains trillions of cells.
In another note, this kind of thing has been done in animals but never humans as this would be very unethical. Look up glow in the dark cats or fish, which have bacterial genes added to their genomes.
Jun 19 2011: A fluctuation in the progression of time? I really can't even start to understand what you even mean by a fluctuation in the progression of time, because the words simply do not make sense together. What I mean is that fluctuation by definition refers to something experience a change in time. So, if time were to fluctuate, then we would have to have some "ultra-time" to measure it by. Then, we could simply call this time, and this line of reasoning could continue ad infinitum, showing that time cannot by definition fluctuate.
Jun 19 2011: I just wanted to clarify on the comment about the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. It is not just an experimental/human limitation, it is in fact a Physical Limitation.
At a quantum level, since it particles are waves (wave-particle duality), there is no such thing as a perfectly-defined position or momentum for the particle. This is the origin of Heisenberg Uncertainty, and this is why it is a physical limitation, a fundamental fact.
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A comment on Talk: Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex
A comment on Conversation: Is it possible to cross DNA with animals?
Hybrid creatures would need to be spliced in fetal form though as a total organism is too difficult to change genetic material of when developed, as humans for example contains trillions of cells.
In another note, this kind of thing has been done in animals but never humans as this would be very unethical. Look up glow in the dark cats or fish, which have bacterial genes added to their genomes.
A reply on Conversation: Is it also possible that time vibrates?
A reply on Conversation: Refuting a quantum mechanics theory
At a quantum level, since it particles are waves (wave-particle duality), there is no such thing as a perfectly-defined position or momentum for the particle. This is the origin of Heisenberg Uncertainty, and this is why it is a physical limitation, a fundamental fact.