Pheromones and the War on Terrorism

[Whitehall]

Here\'s a link, surprisingly dismissive, of efforts by the Defense Advanced Research and Development Agency (DARPA, the real inventor of the Internet) to detect terrorists by their pheromone signature.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-plummer121902.asp (\"http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-plummer121902.asp\")

Didn\'t Heinlein have a book where this technolgy figured prominantly?

[Walter_Mitty]

Hey Whitehall, if I am not mistaken, I thought that Heinlein also was credited with the invention of the waterbed. So beyond the mind stretching literature, the practicle side of the man was pretty incredible. Merits study (hmmm, for some reason I don\'t think that came out quite right...)

[Whitehall]

Heinlein\'s book (\"The Sixth Column\") was written early in his career and it had an Asian power invade and conquer the US. Of course, we Americans faught back. The science fiction part was a device to detect Asians by race(!) and selectively kill them. Very a un-PC book but maybe science does conquer ignorance after all?

[jvkohl]

The pheromones-genetic correlate is a racially charged topic, and more likely to be dismissed by any mainstream publication for that reason. Ever wonder why some dogs seem to have racist tendencies? Ever wonder what prompts your own racist tendencies? Sometimes a novel pheromonal stimulus can be threatening, especially when it\'s associated with racial differences.

I think I mentioned before that Greg Bear\'s \"Darwin\'s Radio\" and a sequel both incorporate pheromones in species differentiation via human endogenous retroviruses (HERV\'s), which alter DNA. The most amazing thing about Greg is that he published \"Darwin\'s Radio\" long before a report surfaced a few weeks ago, which indicates that HERV\'s do change DNA and are very likely to influence speciation (chimp to human, for example).

Chandler Burr will release \"The Emperor of Scent\" next month; no pheromones but lots of stuff on how odors affect behavior--according to him.

[sabSpeaks]

You smell like a terrorist.

[Whitehall]

SabSpeaks,

I think that\'s DARPA\'s idea.

re: Heinlein

Just read a history of the Cold War (\"The Fifty-Year Wound\") and Heinlein was mentioned several times. He had traveled to the Soviet Union in the early \'60\'s I think, and was convinced, based on personal astute observations, that the economy of the USSR was much less than commonly accepted by the US government (read: CIA) or by reading the boasts of the regime. He was a player in the Great Game.

He was more than just a writer of pulp fiction - he had the rare gift (or curse) to be able to predict the future plus be able to spin an interesting story with believable characters about it.