h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

my name is mayis.and it is the fifth month(may) in turkish.no one has given it to me.it came to me.giving a name is making a property.drop your names and set them free.romain gary or emile ajar.who cares.just the fools.i have no name in fact.but you can call me mayis.or anything else.

What a coincidence! My mum's name is May, for 'twas the month of her birth!

A very interesting entry! Congratulations.

I think our fingerprints are also kind of names. Like DNA, there is no way to copy it exactly - of course genetic manipulation is possible, but this is quite a horror.

I've heard, that Indians have a special emotional connection to their names - do someone know it precisely?

Native American 'Indians' or Asian subcontinent 'Indians'? If it's the latter, then I'm not sure how exactly you'd go about finding out. But if it's the former you're asking, then you could always try emailing one of the many groups devoted to such things. Go for a site that deals with Native Americans as a whole, as there may well be regional variations in culture, one either concerned with education or a political site (they're always willing to help with enquiries).

I think the names magic implicit in genetics is as potentially exciting as it is potentially horrific. We may never see dinosaurs recreated like those in Jurassic Park, but we may yet see Tasmanian tigers, moas¹ or other recent extinctions. Let alone being able to pull other species back from the brink.

¹Moas (pron. mo-wa) are an extinct flightless bird of New Zealand. Over 2 metres tall. Interestingly, the bird's name is a mystery as native Maori don't or didn't call it by this name, and moas are thought to have become extinct well before the arrival of Europeans.

One suggestion is that name is a Maori interpretation of the sounds made by British palaeontologists upon receiving bones of the creature "More! More!"

you are absolutely right: the idea that we could recreat some already vanished animals or plants is great. But I'm anxious there might be folks, who would like to create kind of "universal soldiers" or duplicats of certain man or woman. And then we will have the question about ethics.

Actualy I meant Native American - thanks for the advice