#belyaev

Fiction World vol1 Amphibian-man

Based on the novel by Alexander Belyaev, Amphibian Man.

Ichthyander is on the cover.

South America. The sea and pearl diving. Is the sea devil real? A boy with shark lungs and a girl in a difficult life situation. Is Salvator a god or a devil?

If anybody wants to watch a nice Russian movie, here’s an old Soviet sci-fi romance one with English subtitles:

Amphibian Man (1961) - an almost fairy-tale like science fiction film based on A. Belyaev’s novel. The actors have unforgettable eyes!! :) It used to be extremely popular back in the day, and it’s still a childhood favorite of many. 

Plot: The story is set in a seaside port in Argentina (but filmed in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR), largely among a community of pearl fishers. The protagonist is the adopted son of a doctor/scientist who was sometime in the past forced to save the boy's life by implanting him with shark gills. Thus he is able to live under water, but must keep his secret from the world. And once he falls in love.....  

That Famous Russian Fox Domestication Study May Have Had a Few Crucial Flaws

In 1959, the Soviet zoologist Dmitry Belyaev began selectively breeding silver foxes. Those least afraid of people were chosen to reproduce. His goal was to simulate the process that turned fierce ancient wolves into the dogs now known as our best friends.  

The experiment worked, famously well. In 10 generations, Belyaev’s lineage of foxes became tame, seeking attention from people and…

Many people have heard of Dmitri Belyaev’s domestication experiments with foxes. What most don’t know is that he simultaneously breed a strain of foxes for aggression. Or that he also did the same experiments with two separate strains of rats.

All the rats were descended from wild-caught vermin in Siberia; they’re standard-issue brown rats, the same kind that infest most cities. But he split them into two strains: one in which only 30 percent of each generation were allowed to breed. For one line, the “tame” one, he selected the friendliest 30 percent. For the other, he selected the most aggressive, vicious rats.

After 73 generations of rats bred for viciousness, this is the result. National Geographic photographer Vincent J. only had to take these critters’ picture to cause this enraged, screeching response.

From New Scientist:

In 2003, geneticist Svante Pääbo visited Novosibirsk and the experiment. He was stunned by the vast changes in the animals’ behaviour and how quickly these had been induced.

The rats bred for tameness were incredibly easy to handle, while the aggressive ones were so prone to scream and bite that Pääbo said: “I got the feeling that 10 or 20 of them would probably kill me if they got out of the cages.”

From the New York Times:

Frank Albert, a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, is working with both the tame and the hyperaggressive Siberian strains in the hope of understanding the genetic basis of their behavioral differences.

“The ferocious rats cannot be handled,” Mr. Albert said. “They will not tolerate it. They go totally crazy if you try to pick them up.”

When the aggressive rats have to be moved, Mr. Albert places two cages side by side with the doors open and lets the rats change cages by themselves. He is taking care that they do not escape to the sewers of Leipzig, he said.