It’s been a long time since I made a cartoon for self-care Sunday! (I’m on a short break in between working on comic books, so I have a little more time to draw just for fun.) This idea originally came to me from A. J. Jacobs in his book “The Puzzler.” Sometimes, my brain can feel so noisy at night when I try to sleep, ruminating on the past today or what’s coming up tomorrow. I find this exercise so calming for my busy brain and sometimes fall asleep after just a few letters. (If you make it all the way through the alphabet, you could always start backwards and go again!) Let me know if you find it helpful!
An old spirit session. A séance or seance (/ˈseɪ.ɑːns/) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts
To anyone who follows me, I don’t care about nor trust Colossal Biosciences anymore (The people behind the “Wooly Mice”). They have proven themselves to be headline-chasing grifters after this latest stunt. They are claiming to have de-extincted *Aenocyon dirus*, aka the Dire Wolf, by editing just 20 genes from the the DNA of a Grey Wolf (*Canis lupus*) to make this thing:
If it wasn’t clear from their scientific names, Grey Wolves and Dire Wolves aren’t remotely related to one another aside from being Canids, despite what pop culture like Game of Thrones would have you believe. If they did look like each other, it would have had to be via convergent evolution, as they only shared a common ancestor over 5 million years ago.
This distinction, however, isn’t found in the publicized articles about this so-called resurrected Dire Wolf and makes their claim that they brought the Dire Wolf back by simply editing *20* genes from the genome of a Grey Wolf laughable. A Dire Wolf would have shared more in common genetically with a Maned Wolf (*Chrysocyon brachyurus*) or Bush Dog (*Speothos venaticus*) than it would with a Grey Wolf.
Bottom line, don’t fall for whatever this company is trying to tell you. If the Dire Wolf were to be brought back, it wouldn’t be via something like this, and certainly wouldn’t *look* like this. If you want an idea as to how a real Dire Wolf would look like in life, here is some fantastic paleoart by artist Mauricio Antón:
Addendum: I seem to have partially miscalculated Dire Wolf genetics. They were not closer to Maned Wolves or Bush Dogs, but they were still not closely related to Grey Wolves. They were basal members of Canini, related to canids like Jackals (genus Lupulella) but distinct from them. I am sorry for this misinformation in my attempt to correct other misinformation. My main point, however, is still correct.
Yeah, I saw this and my immediate thought was “these people don’t know what they’re doing”. My second thought was, “these people know what they’re doing is a scam”. Either way, I’ve always been very suspicious of Colossal’s, well, colossal claims, and now it’s clear they’re full of shit
The blog! IT LIVES! This isn't really a one fandom blog.... I just kinda run with whatever I like. Early thirties, pansexual, polyam, disabled, cis female with small fiber neuropathy and other neuro problems. She/Her/Hers. Cover photo: Go Get a Roomie Avatar: Princess Leia comics (formatted perfectly by petitegaynerd)
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