(So-Called) Life
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In a world where biology and engineering intersect, how do you decide what's "natural"?
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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. This is Radio Lab, I'm Jannub and Rod. Today we're in a Dr. Frankenstein sort of mood, so we figure where better to start than at the museum? Where they have on a kind of Frankenstein-y exhibit? Okay, I'm Laurel Kendall, I curate the American Museum of Natural History's exhibit, Mythic Creatures. We are standing in front of a dragon. Now why would there be a dragon at the Museum of Natural History? Well, according to the curator Laurel Kendall, why not? The human mind loves to wonder what would happen if we put wings on a horse or put a tail on a beautiful woman, that is human, justified however you want. What you see before you is a hall of strange, twisting creatures dimly lit, and when you look more closely, you realize that they're all mash-ups from the natural world. For example, she takes us over to one-quarter points at a class case where inside, is this creepy little hybrid skeleton thing? Look at this beast and see how it really is a composite. Half of it is a monkey, the upper half. A monkey's skull. And the lower half? It was a fishtail. Like some kind of trout. With some scales. The place is full of stuff like this, a lion with an eagle head, humans with snake tails. Just about anything you can imagine. It's very operatic. Oh, and I forgot to imagine the most important part? Kids. Tons and tons of kids, completely in awe. Oh my gosh, a unicorn. Oh! Look at his claws, boys and girls, look at his hair! What are we standing under here? The Pegasus. Can you describe what we're seeing here? It's a horse. The body's like a horse. It has these really big wings, wings, like birds, like an eagle. Maybe somehow it's parents who are a horse and a bird, and their genes form together to make a Pegasus. It's just what I see, like what I see, it just looks so exciting. But it just looks really cool.
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In a world where biology and engineering intersect, how do you decide what's "natural"?