Dreaming of dragons

I thought this was too adorable not to share. Seven-year-old Sophie Lester from Queensland asked her parents for a pet dragon for Christmas, and upon getting the "we can't get one" talk from her parents, she decided to write to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization to see if they could help her out. (She gets bonus points not only for being adorable and interested in science but also for making a HTTYD reference)

The CSIRO is Australia's national science facility, so they probably have more important things to do than respond to an elementary schooler's request for an imaginary pet, but they did, and it was pretty wonderful. From their site:

"We’ve been doing science since 1926 and we’re quite proud of what we have achieved. We’ve put polymer banknotes in your wallet, insect repellent on your limbs and Wi-Fi in your devices. But we’ve missed something.

There are no dragons.

Over the past 87 odd years we have not been able to create a dragon or dragon eggs. We have sighted an eastern bearded dragon at one of our telescopes, observed dragonflies and even measured body temperatures of the mallee dragon. But our work has never ventured into dragons of the mythical, fire breathing variety.

And for this Australia, we are sorry."

And because the story went viral, even Dreamworks got onto this and wanted to talk to Sophie about her wish. While the company behind one of the best movies ever won't be able to do much, the lovely folks at CSIRO were able to give Sophie her Toothless using their 3D printer and titanium.

The 3D printed dragon is en route to Brisbane, and Sophie and her friends are all setting their sights on CSIRO for their future careers. From the agency: "We’d love to have you in our team, Sophie. For now, stay curious."