3 ms·

They didn't retrace steps, they analyzed isotopes concentrations in different parts of tusks, which were constantly growing through the lifetime of the mammoth.

by ordu 5y ago

mc32 5y ago
This is so bad. Words are losing their common meaning due to journalists freewheeling attitude towards clickbaiting. At least with "Bat-boy" stories of yore, you _knew_ it was made up entertainment and "serious" journalists would not touch such with a ten foot pole, if they could avoid it.
- klyrs 5y ago
  Is it that bad? Or is "retracing steps" a commonly used metaphor for analyzing data at hand to ascertain a fuller picture about where something has been / what it has done? Headlines have always been like this. Before clickbait, front-page headlines were optimized to earn quarters at newspaper boxes.
karaterobot 5y ago
Yeah, this headline seems egregious in that it's not just sloppy, imprecise, or inaccurate, it's purposefully meant to mislead you into believing something that isn't true. So, a lie.
- teknopaul 5y ago
  You can retrace the steps of x without x having feet. I think you need classes in how to read the news. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1026993142/illinois-is-the-first-state-to-have-high-schools-teach-news-literacy https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1026993142/illinois-is-the-fi...
smoyer 5y ago
Maybe if you claim it in a head-line and it isn't true, you should be forced to perform the act indicated. I'm smiling while thinking of the scientist hiking through Alaska over a distance that took the Mammoth 28 years. Of course, the disconnect here was probably introduced by a disconnected reporter or editor.
lmilcin 5y ago
Well, there is a map with a traced path. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/373/6556/806/F2.large.jpg https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/373/6556/806/F2.l... To be fair, it doesn't have the resolution to show the actual steps... ... but c'mon...
- ordu 5y ago
  > ... but c'mon... I have read this literally. Honestly. And I have really imagined big footprints and a scientist tracing them with a hand lens. My mind was blown away. I've read then comments here, and now I see, that it is a metaphor. To be fair it is even known to me. And I think, that I had a moment of uncertainty at a first glance, but somehow my mind of non-native English speaker chose another interpretation. Probably because it had blown away not just my mind but the metaphor as well.

They didn't retrace steps, they analyzed isotopes concentrations in different parts of tusks, which were constantly growing through the lifetime of the mammoth.

by ordu 5y ago

They didn't retrace steps, they analyzed isotopes concentrations in different parts of tusks, which were constantly growing through the lifetime of the mammoth.

mc32 5y ago

This is so bad. Words are losing their common meaning due to journalists freewheeling attitude towards clickbaiting. At least with "Bat-boy" stories of yore, you _knew_ it was made up entertainment and "serious" journalists would not touch such with a ten foot pole, if they could avoid it.

klyrs 5y ago
Is it that bad? Or is "retracing steps" a commonly used metaphor for analyzing data at hand to ascertain a fuller picture about where something has been / what it has done? Headlines have always been like this. Before clickbait, front-page headlines were optimized to earn quarters at newspaper boxes.

karaterobot 5y ago

Yeah, this headline seems egregious in that it's not just sloppy, imprecise, or inaccurate, it's purposefully meant to mislead you into believing something that isn't true. So, a lie.

teknopaul 5y ago
You can retrace the steps of x without x having feet. I think you need classes in how to read the news. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1026993142/illinois-is-the-first-state-to-have-high-schools-teach-news-literacy https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1026993142/illinois-is-the-fi...

smoyer 5y ago

Maybe if you claim it in a head-line and it isn't true, you should be forced to perform the act indicated. I'm smiling while thinking of the scientist hiking through Alaska over a distance that took the Mammoth 28 years. Of course, the disconnect here was probably introduced by a disconnected reporter or editor.

lmilcin 5y ago

Well, there is a map with a traced path. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/373/6556/806/F2.large.jpg https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/373/6556/806/F2.l... To be fair, it doesn't have the resolution to show the actual steps... ... but c'mon...

ordu 5y ago
> ... but c'mon... I have read this literally. Honestly. And I have really imagined big footprints and a scientist tracing them with a hand lens. My mind was blown away. I've read then comments here, and now I see, that it is a metaphor. To be fair it is even known to me. And I think, that I had a moment of uncertainty at a first glance, but somehow my mind of non-native English speaker chose another interpretation. Probably because it had blown away not just my mind but the metaphor as well.