A model of a dragon used in the TV series Game of Thrones. SpaceX founder Elon Musk says he wants to build a cyborg dragon - potentially armed with space lasers. (Getty Images)
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Louise Thomas
Editor
Elon Musk has a habit of sharing ridiculous ideas with his millions of Twitter followers: Building flamethrowers, digging tunnels and using party balloons for rocket launches. He also has a habit of making them a reality.
That’s why his latest tweet promising to build a “cyborg dragon” should perhaps not be dismissed straight away.
The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder made the announcement on Wednesday evening, prompting a response from the official Game of Thrones Twitter account demanding Mr Musk “bend the knee to House Targaryen.”
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Mr Musk continued the exchange, warning the HBO series: “Don’t make me use my space lasers.”
While some of Mr Musk's announcements have eventually come true - such as his promise to sell flamethrowers to fund his tunnel-digging ambitions - the serially successful entrepreneur has also been known to share jokes on the social media platform.
Earlier this year, Mr Musk shared a spoof article with his Twitter followers that claimed Tesla is working on a Carless Driver.
No further details were given about the cyborg dragon, though it could be that Mr Musk is referring to the Dragon capsule built by his rocket startup SpaceX.
Dragon capsules have previously been used as part of resupply missions to the International Space Station.
But even in the hyperreality that Mr Musk seems to exist in, a cyborg spacecraft is just as baffling as a fire-breathing robot.
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