Let’s be generous and say that 20 of the 20,000 genes have been made dire wolfish, and they didn’t miss any important enhancer elements. They still have 99.9% of the genes to convert! Let’s be generous–maybe only a subset of the genes are different, they should have a crude estimate from sequence analysis. So maybe they only need to change 1000 genes to capture the main dire wolf traits, so 2% done!
Though closely related, studies on their genes have found dire wolves split from other canids around 5.7 million years ago, with no sign of an exchange of genes with North America’s gray wolf ancestral populations.
To create these pups, scientists at Colossal used past genetic sequencing studies to make just 20 unique precision edits among the 2.5 billion base pairs in gray wolf germline cells. They then used surrogate dog mothers to give birth to the genetically engineered gray wolf pups.
Colossal hasn’t claimed an intention to make a genetically precise dire wolf. But even if they are trying to create a wolf that looks and behaves like they think a dire wolf would, Austin says that would still probably require tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of critical genetic changes.
Thursday Trump declared a fake emergency and is using it to apply emergency tariffs to nearly every country in the world (Russia gets a pass!). The tariffs were, best anyone can tell designed by interns using ChatGPT, and set tariffs at ruinous levels. Ruinous to the US! Thursday and Friday the markets had record falls, the worst days since the COVID and the 2008 bank runs.
After announcing the tariffs, Trump ran out of the White House and to his Doral golf resort to play in the LIV tournament. Why is Doral hosting this Saudi funded tournament? With it, the Saudis give Trump millions in bribes. To top off the dark comedy, Trump is playing in the tournament, and as he does, is cheating his way to a win in the Senior Club Championship. This will be his third golf championship ‘win’ this year.
Yesterday, Trump imposed tariffs on pretty much all imported goods, the largest tax increase in US history. This will drive up inflation and trigger a recession that will cause high unemployment. Trump is using a tariff authority meant for emergencies that Congress gave Presidents. Republicans could fix this today by passing a law removing the tariffs and removing Trump’s authority to impose them. The Republican party is choosing this huge tax increase and crashing the economy.
Step 2: collect bribes from companies that want tariff exemptions.
Back when only 1/3 of Americans were taken in by propaganda, and that 1/3 were split among different types of crazy. Fox news is the one ring that united them all.
“Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty.” -Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.” -Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism
Measles outbreak in low tax, low government capacity Texas, link
Facilitate Insight by Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation “insight problem solving task while receiving transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the anterior temporal lobes (ATL). Only 20% of participants solved an insight problem with sham stimulation (control), whereas 3 times as many participants did so (p = 0.011) with cathodal stimulation (decreased excitability) of the left ATL together with anodal stimulation (increased excitability) of the right ATL.”
Sterilizing seeds “My recommendation is 10% Calcium hypochloride or 5% Sodium hypochloride for 30 minutes, and for complex surfaces of bigger seeds, it is essential to add 2% Tween 20 as detergent (a small drop for 1mL bleach in an Eppendorf tube with seeds).” “Sodium hypochlorite (1-5%) or 10% Calcium hypochlorite are most common. Mercuric chloride 1% is also probably the best, but use of 3 compounds: Sodium hypochlorite, KMnO4 and H2O2 with washing by water after each one gave best results for nuts and beans.” “Glass container, clean. Place seeds into it and pour hydrogen peroxide 3%. Soak for five minutes. Drain, pour distilled water and soak for five minutes.” Growing Seed Sprouts at Home, link.
Book to read: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn by Richard Hamming. Known for Hamming codes (checksums).
Since males had dominated these professions for centuries, you would think they would leave slowly, hesitantly or maybe linger at 40%, 35%, 30%, but that’s not what happens. Once the tipping point reaches majority female- the men flee. And boy do they flee! It’s a slippery slope. When the number of women hits 60% the men who are there make a swift exit and other men stop joining.
