In 1987, DIC Entertainment released an animated television series featuring dinosaurs in space. The show featured two groups of anthropomorphic prehistoric reptiles, the Dinosaucers and the Tyrannos, battling it out for no reason clear to my child self. The exact plot is still a little fuzzy to me, but the characters still stick out in my mind.

I vaguely remember that the Dinosaucers had a technological advantage that the Tyrannos wanted to steal. The Dinosaucers had the ability to dinovolve by pressing a red button on the front of their uniforms. What exactly dinovolving involved escapes me, but I do know that it was essential in helping the Dinosaucers trump the Tyrannos every single time. I mean, how can you go wrong with dinosaurs, crazy technology and outer space?

Unfortunately, the series only lasted one 65-episode season and we won’t be seeing any more walking, talking humanoid dinos in the future. However, here’s a thought triggered by much boredom on a restless night: If the dinosaurs never became extinct, would intelligent dino-humans exist today in place of us regular humans? I guess we’ll never know, but on the flip side, you can learn a little bit about the creatures that anthropologists and scientists thought had once roamed the earth (see “Discarded Dinosaurs” on page 14).

If not dino-humans, what lies ahead? Could cyborgs be a reasonable bet? Cochlear implants, artificial heart pumps and regulars, and robotic limbs are just a few examples of how medical technology is changing the world. None are exactly cyborg level, but imagine if we kicked it up a notch. What if 50 percent of your body was replaced by machine? What if instead of returning regular human functions, technology enhanced them? Would it be mad science or would it be adaptation? Evolution? Would what’s left of your body deteriorate? Technology does have its negative effects (see “Mind versus Machine” on page 16 and “Technology Pains” on page 22).

I suppose you can go wrong with dinosaurs and crazy technology. Now, if only someone can find me a few aliens.