New video shows Texas school shooter Salvador Ramos holding bag of dead cats
He was reportedly fond of hurting cats. People knew this… friends, family, others.
So, sure. Blame the inanimate object.
He was reportedly fond of hurting cats. People knew this… friends, family, others.
So, sure. Blame the inanimate object.
Emphasis on *may:*
In short, bacteria, algae and other simple organisms were trapped in brine which eventually was encases within halite (“rock salt”) in Australia 830 million years ago, back when a few algal cells clumping together was the height of complexity. These simple organisms are of course dried out… but that drying may (*MAY*) have preserved them stably enough that some might (*MGHT*) be revivable.
It is a valid question: “Ummm… should we be reviving critters what been dead nearly a billion years?” One argument would be “sure, what the hell,” because we’ve had 830 million years to evolve way past any threat they might pose. The other point of view is “Have you never watched any science fiction?!?!” and assume that 830 million years may well have evolved us so far away from them that there’s essentially no link, and no remaining understanding of how to combat them.
Quoting the paper:
Are microorganisms in Browne Formation halite alive? Some halophilic microorganisms, such as Dunaliella algae, shrink and greatly reduce biological activity when host waters become too saline; these algal cells may be revived during later flooding events (Oren, 2005). Survival of bacteria and archaea in primary fluid inclusions in 97 and 150 ka halite have been described (Mormile et al., 2003; Lowenstein et al., 2011). The oldest known halite from which living prokaryotes have been extracted and cultured is Permian (ca. 250 Ma; Vreeland et al., 2000). Therefore, it is plausible that microorganisms from the Neoproterozoic Browne Formation are extant.
Possible survival of microorganisms over geologic time scales is not fully understood. It has been suggested that radiation would destroy organic matter over long time periods, yet Nicastro et al. (2002) found that buried 250 Ma halite was exposed to only negligible amounts of radiation. Additionally, microorganisms may survive in fluid inclusions by metabolic changes, including starvation survival and cyst stages, and coexistence with organic compounds or dead cells that could serve as nutrient sources (e.g., McGenity et al., 2000; Schubert et al., 2009a, 2010; Stan-Lotter and Fendrihan, 2015). One such organic compound, glycerol, produced by the cellular breakdown of some algae, may provide energy for longevity of coexisting prokaryotes (Schubert et al., 2010; Lowenstein et al., 2011). Furthermore, both non–spore-forming and spore-forming prokaryotes may have advantages for long-term survival in fluid inclusions. Non–spore-forming prokaryotes are continually, but minimally, metabolically active, so they are able to repair DNA should it be necessary (Johnson et al., 2007). Alternately, spores formed by prokaryotes may provide another way of longterm survival in a dormant state (Vreeland et al., 2000; Lowenstein et al., 2011).
Personally, I fully support an effort to revive these critters and study them. They’d be a fascinating look into the incredibly ancient past and at how life evolved. Of course, the best place for this research would be in the underground Wildfire facility a few miles west of Clavius Base.
This video looks like it took a *lot* of work…
In a just world, the level of trauma exhibited by my cats in the photo below would be the worst any of their species would ever experience. The “donut” on banshee is due to some environmental factor causing her to start chewing pretty enthusiastically on herself; she freaked out when a Cone Of Shame was put on her, but tolerated the soft donut pretty well and it does the job. Curiously, it also reduced her antipathy towards Buttons. This is the closest I’ve ever seen her allow him to come without complaint.
A photo-illustrated article on some of the feline survivors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If you’re a fan of cats… prepare for a “Jurassic Bark” sort of response.
Casual Geographic explains succinctly and entertainingly why some species are more important than others. Spoiler warning: humans do a dandy job of wiping out those important species.
The question has been asked a bajillion times since about five minutes after “The Lord of the Rings” was published: why didn’t Gandalf simply call in the eagles to fly the One Ring to Mount Doom? Would have saved a *lot* of time and trouble. Fans have dreamed up many theories about why the eagles weren’t called in, but the video below purports to be audio of J.R.R. Tolkien explaining exactly why he did not have that solution in his book. His explanation is *really* good, the best explanation possible:
Unfortunately, it’s fake.
No joke about “disturbing video:”
Think twice before clicking. Scenes of members of Team Humanity being tortured and killed on an industrial scale by humans. As much as many of use *hate* the little monsters responsible for the assault on Buddy The Cat… here’s an entire government that deserves that ire.
Remember the old wisdom about “if someone will do that to an animal, they’ll do that to a human?” Yeah, well… these are ChiComs. They’ve *already* done this to tens of millions of humans, so this is hardly surprising. But it’s still… hmmm.
Once again: humans at our worst are a Cosmic Horror to animals, especially those who rely on us.
Huh:
It’s remarkable not only for the cause of death of the animal, but the preservation of the remains of one leg:
This was found at the Tanis site in North Dakota, previously mentioned on this blog. Earlier reports had shown fish that had been killed by or during the impact event, specifically a wave tossing them onto shore while filling their gills full of little glass tectites, I shudder to imagine what that leg fossil would go for if it ever went up for auction. I hope the dig site has good security.
Well. One more thing to add to The List.
“Yesterday and today [Feldman Ecopark] was again subjected to massive shelling and bombardment. Infrastructure destroyed, enclosures destroyed,” zoo founder Alexander Feldman said in a statement. “The biggest problem is large predators.”
“Maybe we will save baby jaguars, baby panthers, but all adult animals will probably be liquidated,” Feldman said.
The zoo, located in Kharviv, said that its specialists are trying to place the animals in temporary housing, noting this is the only option they have outside of euthanizing bears, lions and tigers.
Understandable but… dayum. I am reminded, unhappily, of Marjan the Kabul Zoo lion. That story *still* pisses me off to no end, twenty years later. I had the great misfortune of first reading about Marjan and seeing photos of while at work back then. Uuuuuugh.
Even for cats as massive and majestic as lions, for animals as powerful as bears… humans waging war has to be a cosmic horror. Their experience of such things would be like the Greek gods warring with the Hindu gods would be on primitive Man.
This video shows the place in October of last year. The Feldman Ecopark Zoo was certainly no San Diego Zoo, but it seemed like it was a nice place, with what appears to have been well designed, well built and well maintained enclosures with healthy animals given a good amount of space. Until Putins goons decided to “deNazify” it.
Apparently there is *some* effort to evacuate some of the big cats: