Friday, May 31, 2013

Mammoth News

After reading this story

MOSCOW (AP) — A perfectly preserved woolly mammoth carcass with liquid blood has been found on a remote Arctic island, fueling hopes of cloning the Ice Age animal, Russian scientists said Thursday.

I wondered how my friend and former LC colleague John McKay, a big fan of woolly mammoths, would respond.

The story is bad science reporting, pure and simple. It’s science by press release. It allows sensationalism to bury the real science. Cloning and “will it tell us why they went extinct” stories are lazy and ignorant writing. It’s crap and I do not like it. Please stop.

Don’t call David Attenborough just yet.  On the other hand, his brother might be interested in doing another scary cloned extinct animal movie.