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Anorak News | On A Wing And A Prayer

On A Wing And A Prayer

by | 18th, November 2004

‘THE image of a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world causing an earthquake on the other is often used to explain chaos theory.

‘How far left to Tora Bora?’

Of course, this is just an analogy – if it were true, Osama Bin Laden would presumably now be breeding butterflies like they were going out of fashion.

But the Pentagon seems to have taken the whole thing a bit more seriously than most.

The Guardian reports that it has enlisted Andrew Parker, an Oxford University zoologist and butterfly expert, in its war against terror.

The US Defense Department emailed Dr Parker after reading his book In The Blink Of An Eye, in which he argues that the emergence of the eye was responsible for the sudden explosion of species in the Cambrian era 550 million years ago.

And he is now working on using the theory of evolution to create a computer programme that monitors developments in the world and spots potential new threats.

Even Dr Parker was somewhat taken aback by his reception after he was whisked off to a secret location near Chesapeake Bay to spend five days discussing how the Cambrian period was akin to an arms race.

‘One of the big surprises was how seriously I was taken,’ he tells the Guardian. ‘It was all a bit surreal.’

So far, the Pentagon has not been in touch with us over our suggestion that it build a giant butterfly net in which to catch terrorists.

But we check our inbox every morning in hope…’



Posted: 18th, November 2004 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink