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I've long thought that one of the highest impact things scientists and engineers could be working on is developing a form of ivory that is indistinguishable fro

by po 12y ago

I've long thought that one of the highest impact things scientists and engineers could be working on is developing a form of ivory that is indistinguishable from real thing to collapse the market. It seems like it should be feasible.

afafsd 12y ago
I doubt it. Look at pearls or diamonds. The sort of people who will pay extra for brand new ivory aren't going to bought off with fake ivory.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- SamReidHughes 12y ago
  Fake pearls are distinguishable, and I don't know much about the state of lab-grown diamonds.
  - dllthomas 12y ago
    Lab grown diamonds are superior. From 11 years ago: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html
rwallace 12y ago
People will always figure out ways to distinguish one thing from another, if that's what they choose to do. It's not just a technical problem, it's a social one. We have to make it clear it is not okay to regard ivory hacked from the face of an elephant as better than a synthetic polymer. To regard diamonds scrabbled over the blood of Africans as better than their synthetic equivalents. To regard the flesh of tortured chickens as better than synthetic meat replacements. And this can be done. There is now a consensus that it's not okay to regard the fur of tortured animals as better than synthetic fabrics. Sometimes there is actually such a thing as social progress.
- masklinn 12y ago
  > We have to make it clear it is not okay to regard ivory hacked from the face of an elephant as better than a synthetic polymer. The best thing to do would be to make natural ivory anything boorish and in bad taste. Although there's a risk of exciting the morons: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/07/rolling_coal_conservatives_who_show_their_annoyance_with_liberals_obama.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/201...

by po 12y ago

afafsd 12y ago

I doubt it. Look at pearls or diamonds. The sort of people who will pay extra for brand new ivory aren't going to bought off with fake ivory.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
SamReidHughes 12y ago
Fake pearls are distinguishable, and I don't know much about the state of lab-grown diamonds.
- dllthomas 12y ago
  Lab grown diamonds are superior. From 11 years ago: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html

rwallace 12y ago

People will always figure out ways to distinguish one thing from another, if that's what they choose to do. It's not just a technical problem, it's a social one. We have to make it clear it is not okay to regard ivory hacked from the face of an elephant as better than a synthetic polymer. To regard diamonds scrabbled over the blood of Africans as better than their synthetic equivalents. To regard the flesh of tortured chickens as better than synthetic meat replacements. And this can be done. There is now a consensus that it's not okay to regard the fur of tortured animals as better than synthetic fabrics. Sometimes there is actually such a thing as social progress.

masklinn 12y ago
> We have to make it clear it is not okay to regard ivory hacked from the face of an elephant as better than a synthetic polymer. The best thing to do would be to make natural ivory anything boorish and in bad taste. Although there's a risk of exciting the morons: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/07/rolling_coal_conservatives_who_show_their_annoyance_with_liberals_obama.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/201...