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kids and biotech

[Three by Five] #9 | Dragon: Norbert the Norwegian Notchback

Posted on March 15, 2018 Leave a Comment

Hagrid, Hogwarts’ groundskeeper, always wanted a pet dragon.

[Alert: Spoilers ahead.]

He mentions it in passing early in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.

Later, he goes on to win a huge black dragon egg from “some stranger during a game of cards.”

He reads Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit and heats his prize egg in the heart of his hut’s fire.

When it hatches, the dragon looks like a “crumpled black umbrella… skinny jet body, long snout, wide nostrils, stubs of horns and bulging orange eyes.”

“It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

The dragon is a Norwegian Ridgeback (“…them’s rare, those…”).

Hagrid names it Norbert and feeds it chicken blood and brandy.

Thing is: Dragons are illegal.

They also grow fast.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron worry for Hagrid.

J.K. Rowling’s genius shines in this chapter (the 14th) of the first Harry Potter Book. Harry, Hermione and Ron are in the throes of exams.

The dragon arrives as the book’s main mystery nears its climax.

Hagrid reveals both his stubborn character and tenderness.

As Norbert grows bigger, tensions rise.

The kids have to figure out how to help Hagrid get rid of Norbert without getting in trouble. This involves Ron’s brother, Charlie. “The one studying dragons in Romania.”

It involves midnight wanderings under the cloak of invisibility.

And it involves dodging Malfoy and Hogwarts teachers.

I wish I could give away the rest. For that, you’ll have to read the book yourself.

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Posted in: 3x5, Dragons, Influences, Marketing, Movie Reviews, Observations, Science Fiction | Tagged: dragons, harry potter, kidlit, kids and biotech, next nature, our biotech future, writing

Games in Our Biotech Future

Posted on August 5, 2015
(image source: The Valley Cards)
(image source: The Valley Cards)

To make biotech a game, as suggested by Freeman Dyson‘s essay, Our Biotech Futures, requires a deep understanding of cellular processes and enough artificial intelligence to accurately translate DNA in real time. Even if faulty, inaccurate, or dangerous, the game must make it fun to play with a DNA sequence that is translated into amino acids.

(2.100)

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Posted in: 100 Days of Writing, biotechnology, synthetic biology | Tagged: biotechnology games, freeman dyson, kids and biotech, minecraft, our biotech future, synthetic biology

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