#Ecological Concerns

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Celebrating National Comic Book Day: The Green Legacy of Comics and Education

[kedreeva]

In case you haven't heard yet, Colossal, the biotech company that earlier this year showed off their "woolly mouse," has announced that they de-extincted "dire wolves." I put this in quotes, because just like with the mice, they didn't truly bring them back (nothing can actually do that, yet) or even really make them.

What they actually did was kind of neat; they copied genes sequenced from dire wolf DNA and inserted them into the grey wolf genome (replacing grey wolf DNA, as they said gray wolves shared a significant percentage of their genome (which isn't saying a TON considering how much the human and chimp genome have in common without being nearly the same animals, but it's better than taking, say, a turtle's genome or something else super unrelated), to create a wolf with genes that dire wolves had.

And while that's not really the same thing as building a dire wolf completely from scratch, so to speak, and it's not really "cloning" them either, it's still pretty cool science, and just like with the woolly mouse, the work (ie, altering/editing multiple genes at once from sequenced DNA of deceased individuals) COULD apply to conservation of actual species (for example, having the ability to widen the genome of remaining breeding individuals of an endangered species, with DNA from deceased individuals). I'm not sure if it IS applying to other species right now (at least not through this company, despite their stated claims to want to), but it is one of their stated goals and it would work.

Also, they're pretty cute

As they were born in October 2024, they now have their own 2,000 acre reserve where Colossal is monitoring them closely. There are two males and one female, but as they've stated they do not have plans to breed them, I'm not sure where the female is being kept in relation to the males, but I suspect she's the solo-wolf pictured, vs the pics of the pair.

Anyway, that's all happening.

[hawkpartys]

nooooo tumblr user dont confidently assert harmful misinformation about conservation efforts. no tumblr user you need to cite those claims. "trust me im an expert" isnt a source. tumblr user you cant blame your lack of citations on scientists "suppressing information". hey tumblr user you really shouldnt belittle the efforts and qualifications of active conservationists in the name of your expertise. hey tumblr user individuals with experience and education in the field disagreeing with you arent Big Government trying to keep you down. tumblr user you sound like a conspiracy theorist. tumblr user why are you supporting individuals committing harmful ecological practices in the name of personal freedom. tumblr user why are you blaming regulations. tumblr user you are just spreading libertarian talking points now

[worldofgoo]

animal welfare shit is soetmhing ive devoted countless hours and days and weeks getting into the weeds of the discourse & research & philosophy of but its always so hard to articulate especially when its something people get so heated about

[jammerskrik]

super tempted to take a three month gig as an oyster farmer just to shake things up 🦪

[exculis]

oughhhh romanticizing foreign countries but only because they have functional rail systems...............

[drabasp]

funniest part abt living in Texas is the persistant myth that picking bluebonnets is a crime with a real risk of jail time

[zapsoda]

i love bugs i am a freaking bug fan but many of the bug white knights on this app piss me the hell off

[2percentsugar]

if they cant successfully reintroduce wildcats, i think they should just introduce manuls to the highlands. fuck it. steel chair

[alarici]

suddenly everyone on reddit got a PhD in equine ecology or federal govt bureau bootlicking

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Seeing Red: Colorfully Attired Organisms in the City Nature Challenge!

[aisling-saoirse]

Cypress Restoration on Okeechobee - February 20th 2024

[endofbeginningarchive]

This site is really annoying omfg "ai" image generation and other creative "ai" models dont exist in a bubble Yea nobodys job is being threatened specifically by the funny images u make (and then use as funny gotchas) online but literally everything created using those models 1. contributes to the larger & completely unmitigated web of "ai" model training and usage -- including the growing (AND REAL??) number of cases wherein "ai" content generation DOES threaten not only future creative jobs but the treatment and security of creatives who are currently working (though for who knows how long) today, and also more generally threatens just. the integrity of information and imagery online on an entirely new level; and 2 (and in my opinion WAY MORE FUCKING IMPORTANTLY), contributes to various Deeply concerning environmental impacts we dont fully understand beyond the fact that they look Really Not good. Liiike honestly in comparison i dont even gaf abt "the threats to creative jobs" nearly as much ok there are 182737 threats to creative jobs every day and if i and everybody else passionate about working in creative fields have an insanely more difficult time breaking into and remaining in an already precarious (at best) industry bc companies would rather make visuals and edit scripts and caption videos using faulty and ethically dubious technology for free then BOOHOO I GUESS... But my actual major concern at this point is the fucking environmental impact soo u can roll ur eyes all u want about annoying artists and their knee jerk reactions to ai imagery & maintain that unbothered "im better than u bc i dont give a fuck but specifically in a way that i have deemed smarter" attitude & let urself gravitate towards uninformed and just as idiotically sweeping takes like "ai is fine actually" (or maybe just.. pretend to think these things? allude to them for the sake of pissing ppl off? i truly cant tell) But the likelihood that these models could make up 14% of global carbon emissions within the next decade or so, as 1 example , is fucking scary And im scared. And you guys are annoyinggg

[mariocki]

Prophecy (1979)

"It's a mutagen."

"A mutagen, what is that?"

"Freakism! Freakism, that's what's been going on out there. That's why there's a goddamn salmon five feet long, and a tadpole the size of what a bullfrog should be!"

[whats-in-a-sentence]

In "The Closing Circle" (1971), a book that articulated much of the environmental concern of the post-"Earthrise" environmental moment, Barry Commoner used the same acronym in much the same way, going so far as to make TANSTAAFL one of his "four laws of ecology".*

* He did not mention Heinlein, nor did Milton Friedman when he used the phrase as a book title four years later.

"The Moon: A History for the Future" - Oliver Morton

[global-newz]

Concerns Over India's "Hong Kong-Like" Development Project on Great Nicobar Islan

India’s ambitious development project on Great Nicobar Island, proposed to transform the remote region into a "Hong Kong-like" hub, has raised significant concerns among environmentalists and indigenous tribes. This $9 billion initiative, designed to include a transshipment harbor, power plant, airport, and township, aims to strengthen India’s position in global trade. Located near the crucial Strait of Malacca, the project is positioned to boost international commerce and tourism, potentially housing over 650,000 residents by its completion in 30 years. However, the development has sparked fears of ecological destruction and cultural loss for the island’s indigenous communities, especially the Shompen tribe, a nomadic group living in isolation.

Environmentalists warn that the project threatens to devastate the island’s fragile rainforests, home to rare species of flora and fauna, with over 900,000 trees potentially being cleared. The impact on local wildlife, including sea turtles and saltwater crocodiles, is also a major concern. Additionally, experts fear that the project could expose uncontacted tribes like the Shompen to diseases, jeopardizing their survival. Despite government assurances of environmental safeguards, many remain unconvinced, worrying that the development could irreparably alter the region’s delicate balance between nature and its indigenous cultures.

The development also evokes memories of the 2004 tsunami disaster, which displaced the Nicobarese tribe, and concerns that the project may push the island's tribes to the brink of extinction. As India moves forward with the plan, the tension between progress and preservation grows, with the future of both the environment and the island’s indigenous populations hanging in the balance.