Yesterday’s article in USA Today was about the manufacture of replicant Tyrannosaurus Rex skin from ancient protein samples to make new leather:

The Organoid Company is creating a T-Rex protein by using fragments of the T-Rex collagen protein from fossils, the companies said in a statement to USA TODAY.

“An important distinction is that (the companies) are starting with the language of proteins, amino acids, rather than the DNA itself,” according to the statement. “This encodes what the 3D structure looks like and from this they can then recreate or ‘molecularly resurrect’ the DNA which is put into special cell lines for leather production.”

The result of this reconstruction of ancient protein sequences is T. Rex leather, which is structurally identical to T. rex skin. “A biomaterial inspired by prehistoric biology,” Mitchell said.

Eventually, T. rex leather could be used beyond handbags and clutches to cover chairs and vehicle seats. “The production of T-Rex leather demonstrates VML’s commitment to pioneering new grounds and shaping the future of our industry,” Korsten said.

This invention is another startling example of mankind’s reach and power. Also today was an article about treated wood that is 10x as strong as steel and made from ordinary wood. Also an article about lead being transformed into gold in one of those large-scale particle colliders in Europe.

These advances, brief and tantalizing as they are, show that our powers as a species are only growing. A lot of this funding comes from either governments (lead-to-gold) or private industry, often venture capital (steel-strength wood). There seems to be a lot of money just floating out there, waiting to be put to use.

The world uses all the engineers it has, and then begs for more. STEM students are in big demand. There is a worldwide battle for top engineering talent, as alternative centers challenge Silicon Valley and other tech hubs for supremacy.

The creation of T-Rex skin seems frivolous and stupid, from a certain angle, but from the standpoint of niche explorations into reality it becomes an invaluable tool for not only understanding our universe better, but manipulating the universe to our satisfaction.

The world changed when the number of very smart men increased. Gradually you got a range of personality types, from geeks to megalomaniacs. The concomitant increase in the average and stupid proved irrelevant, not much of a dead weight on the system, as law enforcement agencies kept the inferior suppressed and “Down.”

Cities have been called “IQ shredders,” but if you really want a family, and can afford it, you can always move to the burbs. There, you can gestate the next generation of geniuses in tranquil, leafy paradise while the inner city throbs and groans.