Biological researchers have created dead ‘zombie’ cells in the lab which outperform living cells.
Seriously.
A team at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico have innovated a technique whereby mammalian cells are coated with silica to form a near-perfect replicas.
The silica replicants can survive greater pressures and temperatures than flesh, and perform many functions better than the original cells did when alive.
By painting the cells with silicic acid in a petri dish, the acid embalms the organic matter in the cell down to the nanometer level.
What could possibly go wrong? I love you, science, but sometimes you scare the piss out of me. Your zombie cells and your DARPA robots, for instance.