15 October 2013 - de-extinction 1

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Hey everybody, I’ve just invented a time machine and I’m off on my first trip. I’m heading for the late Carboniferous when the climate and ocean chemistry were not too different from today, and I’ll pick up a bunch of deep-water trilobites. That should open some eyes, eh? I’ll try settling them in the Red Sea where the salinity is higher and the oxygen is lower, just like they’re used to. Because what could be more important than to restore some of the biodiversity we’ve lost through extinction?

clue:

Not so sure about ocean oxygenation. Fiction usually proposes bringing back an exciting dinosaur, but bringing back something obscure that nobody notices for years could be as profound.

take oh take this clue away

the Daily Whale || copyright 2013, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>