The Time Machine by H.G. Wells: In the future, the spoiled Eloi, descendents of the human race, live in comfort and ease on the Earth’s surface, benefiting from the underground toil of their Morlock cousins. But the Morlocks are hardly slaves to the Eloi; they’re just fattening the surface dwellers for the slaughter.

Doomsday: Scottish survivors of a killer plague get terribly excited when visitors from the outside show up on their doorstep. Fresh meat means it’s time for a barbecue.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein: The ritual of cannibalism was a time-honored Martian tradition to show respect to a beloved friend. When Michael Valentine Smith introduces the custom to his followers, some partake, fueling accusations that Smith is leading a freaky cult.

Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury: When humans settle on the planet Geta, they bring with them bees and eight sacred plants. Geta has a handful of native animals, but they are largely toxic. So, the only eating animals left are human beings, and humanity just isn’t ready to go vegetarian.

Torchwood “Countrycide”: What keeps a village happy and cohesive? Shared values? Community service? Regular get-togethers? Or is it that ritual human feast you all partake in every 10 years?

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld: Peeps, or Parasite Positives, contract a parasite through sexual contact and promptly lose their minds and develop an irresistible craving for meat. This combination proves deadly to any humans who wander into the paths of the infected.

“The Washingtonians” by Bentley Little: George Washington: war hero, patriot, cannibal? That’s right, George Washington became a cannibal during the Revolutionary War, but found the taste of human flesh to his liking. That’s why he became president: not to usher in a new era of democracy, but to convert the nation to his dietary regime.

World War Z by Max Brooks: Living through the zombie apocalypse sucks. It’s bad enough that undead are trying to chow down on your flesh, but you also have to deal with survivalists who’ve turned to other humans as sustenance and Z-shock victims who act like they’re zombies, right down to the chewing.

“Food of the Gods” by Arthur C. Clarke: Is the cannibalism taboo moral, or does it just give us icky feelings? In a future where all meat is synthetic, and therefore moral, a company starts making Ambrosia Plus, a foodstuff based on a rather familiar animal. When Ambrosia Plus starts outselling the other faux meats, a competitor reveals that, while Ambrosia Plus isn’t made of people, it sure tastes the same.

Delicatessen: When trying to survive a post-apocalyptic France, it helps to have a landlord with a steady supply of meat. Just don’t get behind on the rent, or you’ll end up beneath the counter.

Doctor Who “The Two Doctors” and “Revelation of the Daleks”: Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor encounters cannibals in fairly close succession. First, there’s Shockeye, who wants to kill, cook, and eat his fellow sentients Jamie and Peri in “The Two Doctors.” Then in “Revelation of the Daleks,” a mortuary on Necros provides raw material for both new army of Daleks and the food for a starving galaxy.

Livewires: Combat robot Stem Cell contains a nanofactory in her innards. When she needs material to construct a host of pyronanos, she consumes her own skin to get it.

Firefly: It’s not the Reavers’ fault that they’re all crazy and prone to chewing on their victims; that’s just the Pax. But when you hear Zoe describe it, you realize how much you don’t want to meet one of these fellows.

The Twilight Zone “To Serve Man”: Mankind’s new alien friends sound like a real upstanding bunch. They bring humans their wisdom and technology, ending all wars and hunger, and even offer to take a few folks with them to check out the home planet. But their true intentions are revealed in their book “To Serve Man.”

Transmetropolitan: In the instant gratification world of Transmetropolitan, anyone can get anything at anytime, provide they have the cash. This even applies to human meat, which comes from brainless bodies grown in bastard farms. And, in addition to fulfilling your nutritional needs, bastard farms can grow you a vice presidential candidate for a nominal fee.

Spaceballs: Space gangster Pizza the Hutt gets locked inside his car and eats himself to death. And why wouldn’t he? Look at him: he’s a mountain of pepperoni and cheesey goodness.

Soylent Green: Yes, yes, we’re all aware: Soylent Green is people. But it’s so good. But if we don’t watch it being made, can’t we just pretend it’s soy?

Most of the photos in Nolte’s series Corpus 2.0 display alterations that humans might employ to adapt to the current world and the experiences of our daily lives. For example, the above photo suggests placing an extra joint in your thumb for improved SMS messaging. The photos illustrate a possible form of elective evolution that, rather than ensuring our survival, is meant to increase our efficiency within the world as it exists and allow us to continue to modify ourselves as the world changes.

A hole in the lip for smokers.

An ear designed to fit a universal earbud.

A nose ridge to ensure that glasses stay put.

An elongated should for cradling a phone.

The above image in particular, which depicts a high-heeled foot, hits home the fact that many people already adapt their bodies to current fashion – through implants and tummy tucks – and cultural mores, as with circumcision. The next step in body modification could well be to change the structure of our bodies to better interface with the objects in our space.

[Marcia Nolte via Dezeen]

Burton notes that, while there are certain taboos against the commodification of the human body, there are places in the world that permit the sale of organs, spawning a transplant tourism industry. And some people already treat their bodies as farms, growing out and lopping off their hair for sale. But if nanotechnology gives us the ability to grow body parts and pharmaceuticals directly on our skin, more humans would be able, and perhaps encouraged, to participate in that commodification:

Do we really have a choice in our future?

How will future technologies indirectly influence the evolution of the body in certain social-economic extremes?

What circumstances would it take to reconsider your body as a source of income?

A subset of pictures, entitled “Stem,” was inspired at recent advances in harvesting stem cell from adipose fat, supposing that it could be an early form of body farming. It also calls to mind a more fantastical scenario from recent science fiction:

[Michael Burton via Next Nature]

In 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted the non-binding Declaration on Human Cloning, which urges member states “to adopt all measures necessary to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.” At the end of the month, the UN’s International Bioethics Committee will gather in Paris to debate the UN’s position on human cloning and advise the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on how it should proceed. Among the issues the IBC will have to consider are:

Should the UN explicitly permit therapeutic human cloning?
Pros: The use of somatic cells and eggs to replicate human tissue has promising implications for the treatment of spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders, and organ failure, meaning it could fall under the umbrella of “protection of human life.” And, since several member states were unwilling to submit to any resolution that could be interpreted as banning therapeutic cloning, the UN may be missing an opportunity to regulate such cloning or enacting a binding ban on reproductive cloning.
Cons: Because the process requires the creation of a blastula, many view therapeutic cloning as violating human dignity on the same grounds as embryonic stem cell research. And others reject it because the embryos it creates could potentially grow into a cloned fetus, making it perhaps one step removed from reproductive cloning.
Likely Outcome: It is likely that the IBC will recommend that the UN avoid attempting to ban therapeutic cloning in favor of encouraging member states to adopt certain restrictions on cloning research.

Should the UN regulate therapeutic human cloning?
Pros: Because human eggs are required for somatic cell nuclear transfer, there is some concern that researchers could exploit women in order to obtain a sufficient supply of eggs. The General Assembly explicitly stated in its resolution that it sought to avoid the exploitation of women in the application of life sciences. Other aspects of therapeutic cloning may similarly risk exploitation of human life and should be investigated.
Cons: Regulating certain aspects of therapeutic cloning at an international level, such as those limiting the development of the blastula, could unduly hamper medical research. Any regulations would have to balance the dual goals of protecting human dignity and preserving human life.
Likely Outcome: An IBC working group set up to analyze the issue has questioned the adequacy of international regulations on human cloning, and recommended that the international community develop guidelines for cloning regulation.

Should the UN enact a binding resolution to ban reproductive human cloning?
Pros: Separating the issues of reproductive and therapeutic cloning could create the appearance of legitimacy for therapeutic research and encourage bright line rules for what the international community is willing to accept.
Cons: Depending on how broadly reproductive cloning is defined, a ban on reproductive cloning could negatively impact therapeutic research. Banning all reproductive cloning would also mean banning reproductive cloning for medical purposes without first exploring how the concepts of human dignity and protection of life might apply in such situations.
Likely Outcome: The working group has recommended that the UN address reproductive cloning as a separate issue from therapeutic cloning and that the General Assembly pass a binding convention to ban reproductive cloning.

UN Ethics Panel To Reconsider Human Cloning Ban [Scoop]

Professor Steve Jones of the University of London, said in a recent lecture that a reduction in the age of human fathers has decreased the percentage of offspring with genetic mutations:

“For a 29-year old father [the mean age of reproduction in the West] there are around 300 divisions between the sperm that made him and the one he passes on – each one with an opportunity to make mistakes.

“For a 50-year-old father, the figure is well over a thousand. A drop in the number of older fathers will thus have a major effect on the rate of mutation.”

Improved sanitation, nutrition, and medical care also have an impact, ensuring that 98 percent of children in the Western world survive to age 21 and enabling a greater percentage of members of one generation to pass their genes to the next generation than in previous ages. Humanity’s increasing population and geographic mobility is also to blame:

“Small populations which are isolated can evolve at random as genes are accidentally lost. World-wide, all populations are becoming connected and the opportunity for random change is dwindling. History is made in bed, but nowadays the beds are getting closer together. We are mixing into a global mass, and the future is brown.”

Leading geneticist Steve Jones says human evolution is over [The Times via Slashdot]

• Spock: Not only could Spock serve as the poster boy for the entire half-human/half-something else universe, but they also worked his background into several episodes of the show, and the plot of a couple of the films. Plus it gave them the opportunity to write lines like "All right, you mutinous, disloyal, computerized half-breed. We'll see about you deserting my ship." Which Kirk said, and not Bones, who relished in taking digs at Spock's dual heritage. He also helped carve the way for other Stark Trek halfsies, like Deanna Troi (half Human/half Betazoid and Worf's son Alexander, who is 1/4 Human, 3/4 Klingon and 4/4 whiny.
• Doctor Who: Everyone knows that Doctor Who is from Gallifrey, right? Well, not the writers of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie. They had the 8th Doctor be half-human "On my mother's side," which opened up an enormous can of worms in the continuity, amongst the fans, and pretty much throughout space-time. The 10th Doctor later revealed that Time Lords can rewrite their DNA to imitate alien species, which seems like a stopgap effort at fixing that particular problem.
• Ripley: In Alien Resurrection (shudder) Ripley was brought back as a clone with half-human/half-alien DNA, with an alien queen embryo implanted inside her. The military scientists extracted the embryo, but decided to keep Half-Ripley alive. Which, of course, turned out to be a mistake because her human side is imbued with "kickass." Her resulting offspring was also a mix of Alien with Human traits. In fact, the original design for the creature featured very prominent male and female genitalia, which they finally removed in post-production. According to director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, "Even for a Frenchman, it's too much."
• Elizabeth: This half Alien/half human child from V: The Final Battle was the resulting offspring from the climactic ending of episode two of that miniseries. When Robin gave birth to those two babies, one a girl with a forked tongue, and the other a boy who looked like a lizard, it was one of the most shocking moments of the show. It was probably only topped by the fact that the Visitors were reptilian aliens. Elizabeth ended up having strange magical powers that saved the day in the end, plus the bacteria that killed her brother but left her alive was developed into a weapon called "Red Dust" that the humans used against the Visitors. Looks like cross-species sex pays off after all. Just ask the Cylons, and while you're at it find out what the hell is happening with the whole Hera subplot, especially now that we have Nicky and Hera: dual Cylon offspring.
• Robocop: Okay, in all fairness, he wasn't really half human, since most of his body had been replaced by robo-parts, but he still had a human brain and a human face. In fact, I'm not sure why the bad guys didn't just target his lower jaw whenever they were out fighting him in public. Looked fairly vulnerable to me. Still, he did have to power down from time to time (so he could dream and further the human plot points) and he also ate that strange sludge that tasted like baby food, so he had enough human workings going on in there. Thank you for your cooperation.
• Mariner: Kevin Costner's Waterworld flick has been popping up on cable every time you blink lately, and I have to admit that this film isn't as bad as I remember. Sure there are some dorky moments, but Costner's Mariner character as a half Human/half fish combo leads an interesting life. Rather than seeing him battle Dennis Hopper and his cronies, I'd like to see a Discovery Channel-esque special that just followed him around on his trimaran and showed us what his life was like. After all, at the end of the movie he returns to the waters to do... who knows what?
• King of the Land of Half: Did you know there was an entire land dedicated to Halves? Everything in the entire land was split into different halves, and was presided over by a king who wore half kingly robes, and a half suit of armor. His crown was made up of two different halves, and his breakfast bowl was made up of try different types of bowls, perfect to hold his Quaker Halfsies cereal in. This rice/corn combo cereal came and went in the early 1980s, but not before Jay Ward of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame could animate this Half King/Half King wonder. He might not be scifi, but the cereal featured Nutrasweet, which is certainly space-aged and likely to turn us all into mutants. And speaking of mutants...
• Kuato: Technically he might be a mutant, but he sure looked like a half Mutant/half Human to us. After all, he couldn't get around very well without the lug whose belly he was growing out of walking around and feeding him and all that jazz. What was really special was that no matter how fucked-up you thought Kuato looked, he was the real brains of the operation. You sure hope that poor guy never got punched in the stomach, plus it probably made shopping for clothes a real interesting experience. I just want to know where Kuato "went" while he was tucked up inside the guy's guts. Was it like regressing back to the womb? Check out the clip below that shows what he might have been like at parties.

Now long gone, Ivanov was the star of the Institute in the early part of the 20th century —- he made his name cross-breeding zebras with donkeys, antelopes with cows, rabbits with guinea pigs, and so on. By the 1920's it was in his head to try humans and monkeys. He drummed up Soviet and private funding and repeatedly tried to inseminate Chimpanzees with human sperm before he reversed the process and tried to impregnate at least one human female. The Institute became his base of operations before he was caught up in a Stalinist purge and exiled to Kazakhstan, where he died in the 1932.

Today several hundred monkeys live on in dilapidated cages at the Institute, and some have escaped into the surrounding forests, where townspeople routinely spot them. Ivanov's attempts at breeding a hybrid primate race are all said to have failed, though, and genetic differences between chimps (our closest genetic relatives) and humans make it unlikely that humanzees are even possible. Still, evidence suggests that our human ancestors were getting busy with chimps even after our two lineages first split. And there's always Oliver.

Photo: LA Times

Source: LA Times