Open Thread - Thurs 10 Apr 2025 - Why?
Why?
A couple days ago, as I reading my local news website, I came across an article about how a company is genetically engineering wolf genes and has created 3 supposed instances of the extinct (for tens of thousands of years) dire wolf. These three white wolves are living in an undisclosed location in the USA. I suppose I should be excited about it. But I'm not. My main question is 'Why?'.
Dire Wolf Pups, from the BBC article
As a biologist not affiliated with the company pointed out, '"All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else"— not fully revive extinct species'. He goes on to say, '"Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it can't perform those functions" on today's existing landscapes.'
The Beeb adds more in the article entitled 'Experts dispute claim dire wolf brought back from extinction', noting that these animals are not dire wolves, but are 'just' genetically modified grey wolves. And so it goes.
Me, I gotta ask. What's the point of doing this? Now, I have nothing against the three white wolves that have been made, and I really have nothing against that poor dog who was forced to incubate and then give birth to these wolves (via C-section, and, I wonder if she's still alive?) But I don't really see the point of doing this. I guess amusement parks and so on would be interested?
Mice are human too!
Or something like that 
.
In other, kinda cool news from science, a recent study found that mice will administer first aid to other mice, even trying to help those that have died. They do this through licking the sick mouse's face, pulling at their mouth and tongue, whatever they can. They do this more to mice with whom they have spent a lot of time with, are friends or partners with. This is neat. Other animals, including dolphins, elephants and primates, try to help sick compatriots as well. Which just shows, once again, how sometimes 'human' attributes (and feelings?) aren't always exclusively human.
And here's the open thread - remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Happy Thursday!
Hope the day is going well for everyone! I will be cleaning, working outside, and maybe doing errands. Fun stuff! Nikko and I are starting to do night patrols together. We've not had any coyote problems in over a year, but I think the patrols will be good for Nikko and me.
What's up? Whatcha doing? Whatcha learning? We wanna know!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning, sima!
Wolves? Why? Conditioning us to consider we won't ever really die?
Nothing happens in a vacuum.
Anyway, I enjoyed watching 4 dear grazing this morning, 2 of them looking pregnant without bio-engineering.
Coffee is good, everywhere in the fields is greening and lush.
I promise not to interfere with nature today.
Thanks for the OT, chica!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I dunno why...
It's weird. Something for the zoos, for a circus? I dunno. And unless they can figure out how to keep all of what's really us, our brains, our experiences, our thoughts and feelings (and the same for the animals) then yes, we really die. Of course, they can keep our bodies going... heh.
Green and lush rocks. It's the same here. Spring sproings!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Didn't they read or see Jurassic Park?
This may not turn out well. Remember Dolly the sheep, the first cloned animal. In both cases the question is why... as you ask.
Better not to mess with Mother Nature. Better to work with nature to my mind.
Hope the garden season is going well in your world. It is almost time to plant tomatoes here. No doubt it is the start of busy season. The world has exploded in green.
Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I'm waiting to see green
got about 1/2 in of snow last night.
Snow?
Ack. Hope it melts very quickly!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Exactly!
'Better not to mess with Mother Nature. Better to work with nature to my mind.' That's exactly how I feel about it.
We've got tomatoes up, but they are in the greenhouse, as normal for here. They are about an inch or two tall right now! I'm already looking forward to their fruit! It's very green here, and the garden is going nuts even though it's colder than normal. I might have to go buy some flower plants, as I didn't start many from seed this year.
Hope you had a great Thursday and are having a great Friday!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Don't mess with Mother Nature
And she won't mess with you.
Scientific experiments generally
have unforeseen consequences.
Thanks for the OT Sima!
A mind that does not detest bad government is foolish.
Yep!
I completely agree!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
In this case,
"because we can" is an entirely inadequate answer to the question...
It is supposedly going to hit 80degF here today, and 85(!) tomorrow. Too soon, too early- the trees are almost fully leafed in, and it isn't even May 1 yet. We almost certainly have one or two more big snows coming. It will be very sad for the trees.
I don't care what the thermometer says today, winter ain't over yet here, halfway to space.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
80F is too hot...
Too hot, for April? Too hot. That is hot for here in August. Hah! I'm a wimp
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Sheesh. Everboddy knows we needs Dire Wolves because
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I wonder when it'll be in the news...
'Dire Wolves eat trainers'. Although, maybe not, since they have had no culture to teach them what it is to be a wolf.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
So mice teach eather how to avoid traps?
Must explain why some traps simply do not work like metal swing traps. We started using something called the jaws and every effective and yes humane. Jaws was like 100% effective not so much anymore. I think the rats have not figured out how to beat them and just avoid them. Will not use things like glue traps as they are not humane and cause a lot of suffering. My wife says okay if they stay out the house and eat our cherries, etc. but inside it is war. She once caught a small rat in bird seed bag outside, and took it to wooded area owned by a company known for unfair labor practices.
You know, building a better rat trap aphorism has a basis in reality.
What your wife did with that rodent...
Is often what I do. Take them to someplace I don't like and set them free. The house and garage are the limits though. That's why we have cats! And Nikko! Now that our cats are really old though, we are getting rodents in the garage or were. It's all cleaned up and everything is stored in plastic tubs now (everything like bird seed, etc). So no more rats there and the cats just sleep as they get ready to turn around 17 to 18 years old!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Interesting mice report, Sima
Once when I was driving at night, I was on an interstate somewhere USA at just about dawn, I saw a small group of deer on the center medium. They were gathered around another deer, an adult who appeared to be deceased laying on its side motionless on the grass. I assumed it had been hit by a car or truck earlier. The adult deer was prodding and pushing the dead dear and the others a couple of juveniles were looking on. They seemed disturbed by lifeless deer, and I assumed without thinking that the one adult was trying to revive it, unsuccessfully. They appeared to be in shock or mystified. Anyway these impressions were going through my head just from this brief encounter. I thought this small group of deer looks like a family in grief.
Am I projecting? Are we just a bunch of chemicals? I'm including the animal world in "we." I don't think so really.
語必忠信 行必正直
I don't think we are just a bunch of chemicals, either
And yes, 'we' includes all life.
That's a great experience you had with the deer at the side of the road. It really teaches us, we aren't the 'only' ones who have cultures, families and caring.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
As long as we're
talking about mice, it is time once again to dust off the articles about John Calhoun's Mouse Utopia experiments.
The mice knew a thing or two, things that we might well consider considering...
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-old-experiment-with-mice-...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink
I don't know a thing about the Bible, as a lifelong atheist: but I surely do feel as if the metaphorical mice are nibbling away at my sanity, if not my soul.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
"the beautiful ones"
LOL Thanks for posting, UFS.
語必忠信 行必正直
In this modern world,
they'd be signed for a reality TV show. Looking at you, Kardashians... (;-)
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Maybe they were just the intelligent nihilists?
Almost the "slum dandies" or "NEETs" of their society (quite in contrast to usefewersyllables' analogy): Far from being The Problem, they were the ones who knew (to the best of their ability) what was going on, and, feeling powerless about changing it, got existential about how best to manage their hopeless existence.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Dang,
I forgot about those experiments. Very appropriate to today's human world, aren't they?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Love these guys
.
They talk financial stuff that even I can understand.
Michael says one of the biggest reasons China out produces America is because they don’t have privatized industries, they provide free education and healthcare, while America has done the opposite and we have a rentier economy. It’s not rocket science. Plus it’s just we little people who are stuck with paying high taxes.
This starts around 30 minutes in.
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
American industrial policy is greed.
The Chinese whether one likes it or not, do have industrial policies that serve their national interests. American industrial policy is unregulated greed. One of the areas where this is obvious and extremely dangerous if you are a hawk is the defense industry.
"Distress call response"
is the term I have heard long ago to describe animal behavior in which the sound of an animal in distress, especially a baby animal, will cause another animal to immediately turn toward it, move toward it, and try to help. Supposedly, this behavior exists in humans as well as in deer and others. Supposedly, this is why human hunters have used "calls" to attract deer or other prey. Calling for help, with the artificial sound of a baby deer, causes the adult deer to come toward the hunter, and the hunter can then blast his prey to death easily. Cool, huh?
I don't know why it surprises people that other animals care about their young or their fellow animals. The fact that so many of us humans do not seem to have any compassion for anyone does argue against compassion being an instinct genetically inherited. So maybe we have to learn it. And maybe the Jake Sullivans among us just never learned it. And maybe there are deer who haven't learned it. But definitely there are deer who have.
That's it. Lecturing my cat on finding her own food ...
From Google AI:
Yes, it's true that cats meow at frequencies similar to human baby cries, particularly when they're seeking food or attention. This behavior is likely a learned tactic that exploits our innate nurturing instincts towards infants
Good comment..
'I don't know why it surprises people that other animals care about their young or their fellow animals. The fact that so many of us humans do not seem to have any compassion for anyone does argue against compassion being an instinct genetically inherited. So maybe we have to learn it.' This is right on point. Anyone who has opened their minds and been around mother and baby animals will see this, they care about their young. And all animals care about their fellow compatriots in their group, whether is herd, flock, pack, whatever.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Something that is less serious but in fact it might be a warning
TBH, I'm a bit surprised they're still making our toys.
Also, hellloooo?!? Why don't WE just start manufacturing THEIR cheap shit?
I hear it's a good way to get started...
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
I don't think that this can be considered as a compliment. LOL
resurrecting the extinct
Hi all, Hi Sima,
If stupidity went extinct, these people would work to resurrect it.
The whole idea of resurrecting extinct species is a scam. It is a grift. Like humans being a multi-planetary species, it is a result of too much science fiction and not enough science.
Note how it is always and only 'flagship' species touted. Because like a seal pup or Panda, it gets
attention and sympathy. And big buck investors going for the glory, I mean gold.
In most cases the habitats these extinct species lived in no longer exists. Where are the Wooly Mammoths, Mastodons, Giant Ground Sloths, etc., that Dire Wolf fed on?
It is a way humans attempt to avoid the fact that often they are the cause of the extinctions. We are extinguishing species every week, oh but look we have Thylacine, Dodo and Dire Wolf?
The money and effort should be spent on preserving what we still have here. Just like 'saving humanity' by sending someone to Mars. We should be spending that effort and money saving what we have here already now.
If we won't save what we have here now, why would we save something other than that? Just wait until one shows up at a ranchers. There is nowhere in America for Passenger Pigeon, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, or Eskimo Curlew. We killed them all and destroyed their habitats. Bring them back to what?
To paraphrase the adage... 'in their quest to see IF they COULD, no one thought about whether or not they SHOULD'
Back to my cave... titanium undies engaged... fire rant in 3...2...1...
happy trails all
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
THIS..
is a great comment, with lots of very good points which I completely agree with. THANK YOU for helping me put my thoughts into words!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
We must breed dire wolves for the Fimbulvintr, of course!!!
Then, when they are grown and the two greatest among them have devoured the Sun and Moon, we march upon Asgard for the RAGNAROK, BAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!
More seriously, those pups are adorable, but it IS a drag to hear they're just the GELF-equivalent of trying to say Segways are Back To The Future hoverboards, or trying to pass mere data-aggregators off as true "AI" (hmm, am I seeing a pattern here...?).
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
The video says they could deduce their color from fossils...
...HOW?
They couldn't do that with dinosaur-colors (such is my understanding, which admittedly may be way dated by now); I mean, sure, one set's a hell of a lot fresher than the other, but unless I'm missing something, a fossil's a fossil.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Yea,
I don't get how they deduced the color either.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Hi Everyone!
Yesterday sucked for me in a way. We had some fierce windstorms which took out the power lines and transformer across the road from my driveway. It was out for quite a while and, of course, I had no computer access or anything, really. So, I'm looking at all these great comments today, on Friday! Sorry about that!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so