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The cover story for this month’s National Geographic had to do with the discovery of Lyuba — a woolly mammoth cub that apparently fell into a bog, clogged her trunk and lungs with silt and suffocated some 40,000 years ago in what is now Siberia. The carcass was discovered on a frozen river bank in 2007 by a reindeer herder who had to fight his own cousin and other local villagers to get the baby mammoth safely in the hands of researchers. In return, the scientists named the carcass Lyuba after the herder’s wife; The magazine said the name was a show of gratitude. Apparently prehistoric biologists suffer from a lack of etiquette.

After a series of CT scans and a detailed autopsy, scientists realized Lyuba was barely one month old at the time of her death. Micro-organisms living in the bog she trapped herself in literally “pickled” her flesh while centuries of permafrost totally dehydrated her body, leaving her entire carcass preserved for study. No other mammoth carcass has been found as wholly intact as Lyuba.

While the story on Lyuba was interesting enough, what really got my mind reeling was a short feature, written by the same author (Tom Mueller), that followed it. While the first set of scientist Mr. Mueller interviewed were primarily interested in studying the remains of Lyuba to learn of her life and death, the development of mammoth infants and the prehistoric pachyderms’ digestive habits, another set of scientists are aiming to create their own mammoth for study — by cloning. At least 70 percent of the basic mammoth genome has been pieced together from fragments collected over the years. While there are a few more hurdles to overcome, the idea of recreating an extinct species isn’t nearly as far fetched as it was just 16 years ago. In fact, it’s already been done—kind of. A mouse embryo infused with Tasmanian tiger DNA developed the bone structure of the extinct mammal, according to the magazine.

“It’s simply a question of time and money, not of technology anymore,” Stephan Schuster, one of the scientists responsible for sequencing the mammoth DNA, told National Geographic

Just because we can resurrect extinct species — both the prehistoric kind, like mammoths and dinos, and the more recently extinct, like the tiger mentioned above — does not mean that we have a duty to help these species “survive.” Neither does it entitle us to bring them back to satisfy our own curiosity.

“This is going to happen. It’s just a matter of working out the details.” –Hendrik Poinar on cloning mammoths, to National Geographic

Animal and plant species have been disappearing and reemerging without human assistance since the beginning of time. For us to interfere now would be looking nature straight in the face and hurling the biggest imbalance humanity has yet to dish up. There is simply no way to justify the expense or ethics that would be necessary to support such an effort. It is fascinating to study ancient life and work out how the world used to be, but what would really be the benefit of bringing back an extinct mammoth? It would be a lonely, ill-adapted truncated version of the great animal that used to thrive in a totally different environment than the one we have created.

Similarly, I can see no justification for the use of cloning to “save” recently extinct species. Certainly working to save unique ecosystems and preserve the animals that live in them is a noble endeavor, but, if in the course of time, the species dies out despite our efforts, that is what the forces that be have dictated. Whether or not the impact of humans on the planet directly or indirectly had anything to do with the extinction really is irrelevant, at least in that particular case. (We should always strive to fully understand our actions and the consequences there of to help make sound decisions in the future). Humans are a “natural” force just as much any other animal is.

These species died for a natural reason — either they weren’t suited for the changing environment, they directly interfered with the progress of another, stronger, species or their absence at a particular point in time is simply the Lord’s will — and to ignore that fact would be an ultimate act of arrogance.

What’s more, the financial resources and brilliant minds toiling away in the resurrection lab could be striving to more fully understand existing species, particularly the endangered kind, and working to find ways to preserve and celebrate life. If, after much effort and expense, these species die out as well, that’s simply the natural course of things. We must make the most of what we have and deal with the problems we can solve.

In a way, this misguided use of energy troubles me in the same way that commercials soliciting compassion and, more accurately, cash, for abused dogs and cats, retired race horses or sweating polar bears do. It is absolutely wrong to intentionally mistreat animals or take on pets, or pet-projects, that one cannot shoulder responsibility for and we should take steps to rectify these situations. But with billions of our fellow men living in poverty; millions of children walking the streets of the world hungry and alone; and a generation of young people having grown up in the “civilized” world, yet lacking any real understanding of the world around them, how can we possibly afford to give our money to buy new beds for dogs and cats or install an arctic air-conditioner for the convenience of polar bears?

Just so I’m not splitting hairs here, I would argue that polar bears are the most magnificent animals on Earth. But they’re still of minuscule importance compared with this starving child from the slums of Indonesia.
Just a thought.

—David

(d)Evil goalkeeper Marty Brodeur made a slew of remarkable saves in game seven of the first round of the NHL playoffs, but he couldn’t stop a final rush of fury dished up from a seemingly-broken Carolina team in the final two minutes of the series.

What an amazing game. Just like this series as a whole, the guys kept it going back and forth the whole time, both teams playing on the same level, matching one another move for move. With two minutes left to go, it felt like the Canes were done for the year. Then defensman Tim Gleason kicked off a series of remarkable plays when he dropped to his knees and used the long handle of his stick to keep the puck in play. Laying across the blue line, Gleason hit the puck pong-style back towards the Devils goal. Defenseman Joni Pitkanen caught the one-of-a-kind pass and set up a shot for Jussi Jokinen, who evened the score up 3-3 for the Canes.

As Caniacs took a sigh of relief, thousands of fans for both sides braced themselves for overtime play. Eric Staal had other plans. With seconds left on the clock, Staal slapped a shot past Brodeur and skated off before the Devil knew what happened.

In a press conference after the game, Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice had kind words for Staal. Maurice said Staal has a natural talent rarely seen in players, but it’s his drive and hard work that have boosted the 24-year-old to star status after just five years in the league. Maurice, a seasoned coach whose spent years in the league, admitted this series was unlike anything he’s seen before.

“I’ve never had a game end like that,” he said. “That was fantastic.”

What a game. Now on to Boston.

–David

Just one week after moving to Dunn to begin my journalism career, I was sent off to the slightly smaller neighboring town of Benson to cover a free concert sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. I was impressed.

Kristen came along for company. I snapped pictures, chatted up the event organizers and got to know the residents of the new community I would be covering; all the while enjoying the not-too-hot-yet spring air and the cool tunes that carried on into the sunset. In short, it was one of those moments where I questioned reality: “Am I really getting paid to be here?” I asked my wife as we grabbed a cup of homemade ice cream churned out by a John Deere engine.

We went to nearly every public show the town put on that summer and each time walked away more than satisfied with the free entertainment, but also awed at the sense of community the outdoor event created. Here in a municipal park in the center of the town, around 350 people (more than 10 percent of Benson’s citizenry) came together, put aside the cares of their days, sat, listened, talked, danced and relaxed. Many people drove from nearby towns to enjoy the show. Others simply walked a few blocks down Main Street, plopped down in the thick grass and soaked up the rich sounds of beach music. It was then, during my first full week of work at The Daily Record and less than two weeks since we’d unpacked our first box into our rental townhouse in Dunn, that we decided Benson was were we wanted to lay down roots.

Last Thursday night the first Sundown in Downtown concert of the season got into full swing just before 6 p.m. This was the first show since Kristen and I bought our house in Benson; we had been waiting for a night to walk to the park, setup some lawn chairs and pass the evening in classic Southern style ever since we signed the dotted line. Expectations were high but The Coastline Band didn’t disappoint. Ben Murphrey, Benson’s downtown development coordinator, was more than pleased with the attendance at the first show of the summer. The park was packed. The music was good. The weather was perfect. I brought a book to read while the band played in the background. Kristen graded papers in between sets and Dulles tried to make friends with every child and dog that passed his way.

By 8:10 Dulles — a friendly but overly energetic Doberman — was getting bored with sitting and we had to head home. The music followed us. Dulles got to stretch his legs in the backyard, but Kristen and I hung out on the sofa in the living room, opened the windows and, on this perfect evening, the simultaneously soothing and energizing beats of beach music wafted into our home alongside the familiar sounds of night.

    I can’t help but ask, why don’t other communities stage monthly events like this? By ‘other communities,’ I mean every other community. Sure it takes some planning on the part of a town employee and sure someone has to foot the bill (in Benson, a long list of local businesses sponsor the concerts, getting a quick plug-in halfway through and gaining access to pedal balloons, t-shirts and other freebies emblazoned with their logos to the crowd). It really is a small price to pay for seven high-quality monthly concerts, all free to the public. But the real benefit is the sense of community the events create and the neighborly relations they help build. It’s tough to put a price tag on these things. Especially during a recession.

–David