We humans are forever doing stuff that has consequences that we did not anticipate. Even when such consequences seem small when we consider a single event, an aggregate of millions of similar events can cause serious damage. I read a Medscape article about lab-grown meat today. The idea here is laboratory-grown muscle cells. It’s been done, and a restaurant in Singapore actually serves a chicken dish made from laboratory-grown chicken cells. The article went on to consider what it would take to get humanity off of eating actual animals. For one, it would take a lot of energy. It would also take industrial-scale cell culture substrates that would yield waste which might harm the environment; it is too early to know.
As I read this STEM article, I began wondering about Superheroes from the DC and Marvel cinematic universes. How many cases of cancer has Superman caused by exposing people to his x-ray vision; x-rays are ionizing radiation, you know. How much money does the city spend on cleaning up those high tensile strength fibers that Spiderman shoots from his wrists? How many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of orphans and widows are the direct result of Tony Stark’s Stark Industry weapons? I could go on, but I’m sure that you can think of other unintended consequences that would accrue to the activities of Wonder Woman, Batman, Cat Woman, Thor, and the rest of the superhero bunch. And don’t get me started on their nemeses – The Joker, Penguin, Harley Quinn, Ultron, Thanos. Geesh!
I’m going to go back to tonight’s astro-imaging project now. I have a bit of BBQ left over from tonight’s dinner, and I may have it as a snack later tonight. No laboratory-meat for me.