shut up and take my money!

[kattphive]

The first step into having a real tail has begun...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...194607862.html

video of the guy moving the tail

[Drachen]

Considering the tail is currently attached to a rat and is sending signals to the rat's brain to move the tail, I don't know about that. I'd think if you wanted a tail, a better approach would probably be mechanical, like this prototype from the company that makes the brainwave-sensing cat ears.

[danielsangeo]

God bless the Japanese.

[kattphive]

I'm sure by the time they finaly make it where I can have a real flesh and fur tail that I can control I'll be a wrinkled old man.

[Drachen]

I doubt that a "real" tail will ever be practical, never mind possible, on people.

[jack36262001]

I don't know about impossible. The genetics are there, but there is a reason we lost our tail through evolution so practical I think not.

[Makalaka]

If people are gonna be getting tails, either biological or prosthetic, it'll be purely for aesthetic reasons, like a tattoo or breast implants.

[Ironhorse]

I can imagine the bio mods for cosmetic reasons to be the driving force. Who cares about tattoos when you can have Cuttlefish chromataphores, or tentacles for hair.

[Makalaka]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Who cares about tattoos when you can have Cuttlefish chromataphores,

You'd save a bundle on makeup and tanning salons, too.

[jack36262001]

Genetics is a funny things to play around with, because adding genes may not react ways that we can't predict with other genes. Though adversely because of our orgin we do share something like 1% or less of our genes with a grape. So it may just be a matter of activating the gene.