This is NOT Yasuke. Read on to find the real African Samurai
 The thing basically consisted of stacks of gear-based addition units arranged into columns in clever enough ways to be able to handle the four primary operations of arithmetic. Crucially, it could store results on punchcards and it could also accept programs ("formulae") on punchcards. - MICHAEL BYRNE   There has been a lot of bad science over the years in the field of plant intelligence, much of it based on the unreplicable research of former CIA professional, Cleve Backster. But, that was years ago. Now, the science has changed. Now there are results. Though there is push back in the scientific community against calling any part of plant anatomy a neuron, many of the neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters have been found in plants. Amongst a host of environmental stimuli plants' roots sense are gravity, light and sound. That's right, new research points to plants being able to hear water inside pipes and move towards it. And don't even get me started on how they communicate with each other over long distances. Even Darwin was enamored of them, writing on the concept of plant intelligence and had no problem using the "b" word. “It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the radicle . . . having the power of directing the movements of the adjoining parts, acts like the brain of one of the lower animals; the brain being seated within the anterior end of the body, receiving impressions from the sense organs and directing the several movements.” -Darwin, "The Power of Moving Plants", 1880, I remember a short story about a race of aliens living in a radically sped-up dimension of time arrive on Earth and, unable to detect any movement in humans, come to the logical conclusion that we are “inert material” with which they may do as they please. The aliens proceed ruthlessly to exploit us. - Stefano Mancuso, plant molecular biologist -Rob Cameron
 Nature has equipped animals with a variety of natural, built in weapons. In addition to large claws, fangs can be armed with venom. The tentacles of a jellyfish are equipped with powerful toxins, and the saliva of a komodo dragon is rich in a deadly bacteria that can kill its prey. Researchers have modified human cells and turned them into tiny lasers. The procedure can make cells easier to tag and track, which could be useful in combating cancer. The enhancement is done by creating a cavity in a cell and then injecting a dye which can emit light after being excited. Marvel comics has a character named The Living Laser, but your fiction could take that down a literal approach. In The Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony, an alien race called The Slash are covered in laser lenes which they use to see and communicate, and if threatened, to shoot concentrated beams. Maybe there are humanoids in your study that undergo enhancements to become living weapons or serve as nodes in a vast laser communications network. -Jonathan Hernandez  |
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Speculative Fact contributions are researched and written by Jonathan Hernandez and Rob Cameron
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Just in time for Halloween!
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