Happy with the publication of this paper in which we demonstrate dietary responses to dry climate in extinct Gomphotherium based on the chemistry of their teeth. A very nice collaboration with Spanish and Portuguese colleagues, with more opportunities in the future!
bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/...
What a glorious morning, and it's turned into a Very Big Day for the project
Soaking up the Cambridge vibes with @lemoustier.bsky.social
Two marsupials previously believed to be extinct found in New Guinea:
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Wow. Foraminifera!
ROV pilots paused and carefully zoomed in to collect footage of these single-celled microorganisms, or protists, at 843 m during the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition w/ @schmidtsciences.bsky.social offshore of Argentina. Read the full caption: youtube.com/shorts/Yv_ud...
All over cord >> double denim
The implications for which species/traits are considered desirable in rewilding discussions is fascinating here (not to mention the synthetic biology angle…)
Countries can rewild land borders to deter invasions, says EU environment chief
- Jessika Roswall cites Poland and Finland, which have made border areas near Russia or its allies ‘more hostile’ to cross
#rewilding
Story by @fionaharvey.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Hi #EarlyModern Bluesky - did you know that someone brilliant has built working printing presses using Lego and they are trying to get enough supporters so that Lego will release it as a kit?
They look so cool!
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
This is the sort of thing a cashless society robs us of, the opportunity to try to get away with paying the bus fare in Carthaginian currency www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Interested in mid-Pleistocene transition? Check out our latest paper 👉🏽 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@us-sciod.bsky.social @kapuge9paleo.bsky.social @jfarmersalmanac.bsky.social @julgottschalk.bsky.social
#paleoceanography #EXP383
A recent enquiry made us fall in love/awe with Elizabeth Gray (1831-1924) all over again These photographs of Mrs Gray, an intrepid Scottish fossil collector, were taken around her 90th birthday in 1922-23. Happy International Women’s Day!
Stalled labour is a known issue in captive elephants. And wild elephants are not pregnant with an experimental genetically modified foetus.
This is interesting on the value of low intensity, mixed farming for plant biodiversity theconversation.com/the-black-de...
A reminder that captive births are very far from risk free in elephants. You cannot do a c-section if e.g. development or delivery goes wrong (=death to mum for sure).
Honestly, this would not pass an ethics committee in the UK, I am sure.
I hope this is just more of the usual nonsense
And names.
Even if de-extinction efforts are “successful” by whatever criteria people use (% genetic similarity? Good enough to get media interest?), you are never going to have a mammoth, or a dodo or a thylacine.
So these beasts need new names…
❌ don’t say “restoring lost ecosystem function”
☑️ do say “testing the impact of synthetic phenotypes on ecosystems/environments”
De-extinction, and the language we use to frame it.
❌ don’t say “bringing back the mammoth” [or whatever 🦤]
☑️ do say “testing whether we can synthetically create specific desired phenotypes”
I propose the following names for the planned synthetic biological recreations of various extinct superstars:
🦣 The Lammoth (after Colossal CEO Ben Lamm)
🦤 The DoDon’t (de-exctincted Dodo)
🐅 The Trylacine (marks for good effort)
You are welcome.
If the first Lammoth is two years away, that means gene-edited embryos are about to be implanted into surrogates any time now.
I have always argued that the use of elephants in experiments like this is unethical.
My opinion has not changed.
Yes. That implies they have done this
Oh no!
This is vital playground currency. How else will they participate (and win?) in the BIGGEST NUMBER war?
Look up Graham’s Number
Photo of a table with old OS maps and finds (e.g. rocks, flint, pottery) in boxes with labels, and some books. On a display board behind is a timeline of Lady Aileen Fox's life and a poster entitled 'pioneering Exeter archaeologist' with a large black and white photo of her.
This display, created for the @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social International Women's Day event on Monday, was made by students Jo, Lilian & Georgie. It focuses on the achievements of Lady Aileen Fox, lecturer here 1947-71, who was instrumental in founding the teaching of archaeology @exeter.ac.uk.
In awe
I've been unemployed for a few months. I now set myself pretend jobs to prevent the rot setting in. My son thinks this guy is funny, which is a good enough excuse to make something. Any requests?
What level of ick is your cut-off point, when it comes to funding…?
Mine likes those too!
The global island species–area relationship for plants "a simple power model explains a remarkable amount of variation, with ISAR slope and residual variation explicable by isolation, island origins, and proportion of endemism" 🧪🌐 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
