4 ms·
(Biology) restores some bio-diversity to the planet. (Cuisine) If passenger pigeons became commonplace again, we could eat them. Regarding your point about kn
by blisterpeanuts 11y ago
(Biology) restores some bio-diversity to the planet.
(Cuisine) If passenger pigeons became commonplace again, we could eat them.
Regarding your point about knowledge: totally agree. If we could coax extinct life forms back into existence, think of the likely medical implications. Regenerating limbs, repairing brain damage, curing MS and ALS and a host of other genetic problems.
People like this science writer keep saying "We might be able to, but should we?"
Of course we should. The opportunity costs of not doing it are potentially enormous.
- Turing_Machine 11y agoCertainly we wouldn't want to bring back passenger pigeons in anything like their former numbers -- they would devastate grain crops like a swarm of locusts. Come to think of it the Rocky Mountain locust is also extinct (the reason for this is unclear, but some believe it was due to farmer's plows uncovering their buried eggs and exposing them to predation). There's a species we don't want back, for sure. Edit: "North American locust" -> "Rocky Mountain locust". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_locust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_locust
- blisterpeanuts 11y agoInteresting. I guess we don't want to bring back the Rocky Mountain locust. On the other hand, according to that Wiki article, they may not actually be extinct, just morphed into some other form of grasshopper. Presumably there'd be predators (hawks, falcons, owls, eagles, snakes and other nest invaders, humans with shotguns) that would keep down the pigeon population. But, maybe not. Still, we need to try :)