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Re:First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature by shabble on Thursday September 12, 2013 @09:49PM (#6378084)
> As a mechanical engineer I see tons of mechanical components in the human body. Diaphragm pumps, ball and socket joints, pinned joints, tensile supports.

The chemical engineer points at the vast complexity of enzyme catalysed reactions and intricate supply chains of nutrients.

The electrical engineer observes the networked structure of the nervous system, the myriad signal processing pipelines built all from similar, near-standard components, yet ultimately giving rise to consciousness.

...and the civil engineer gets the blame for routing a hazardous waste pipeline through a recreational area.

Re:First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature by teddyh on Friday September 13, 2013 @08:04PM (#6384025)
Evolved creatures are a strange mix of clever hacks and design-by-committe horrors.

http://threepanelsoul.com/2010/07/05/on-design-by-committee/

Re:First Mechanical Gear Found in a Living Creature by mikeash on Thursday September 12, 2013 @10:38PM (#6378237)
Physicists think God is a physicist, since everything runs according to simple laws.

Engineers think God is an engineer, because He created order out of chaos, and that's what engineers do.

Programmers think God is a programmer, because where do you think the chaos come from in the first place?