Technology: The Day I Played God

Creating a new world is complicated -- and risky

In the beginning I created the heavens and the earth -- well, almost. I actually started with a lump of molten rock, gave it a hundred million years or so to cool off and then began to form the clear blue oceans and the landmasses that would eventually become continents. After a few billion years had gone by (it seemed like minutes to me), I created the first life-forms and triggered the start of their long evolution. Before I knew it, my world was filled with thousands of self-replicating molecules, millions of one-celled organisms, whole armies of invertebrates, crustaceans and primitive...

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