If only
there was some kind of easily accessible media that would explain the consequences of doing this
But that would be just crazy talk
It will definitely be possible within the foreseeable future to bring back the long-extinct woolly mammoth, a top geneticist has said. However, in his regretful opinion such a resurrection should not be carried out. The assertion comes in the wake of a new study of mammoth genetics as compared to their cousins the Asian and …
Ian Malcom: But your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
Michael Chrichton - Jurassic Park
At least someone got the memo...
Whilst I think (re)creating a mammoth sounds fabulous; you only have to look at the havoc wrought by existing non-native species to wonder if it would really be a good idea. You could probably control the mammoths, but what about parasite and disease mutations? Mammoth 'flu, anyone?
"Ian Malcom: But your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
Michael Chrichton - Jurassic Park
At least someone got the memo..."
...and he was far from being the first. Authors have always postulated situations and then gone on to discuss the morals and philosophy behind the alternative answers going back to at least the ancient Greeks. "modern" SF is probably the most obvious current outlet for this type of speculative philosophy dating back at least to Jules Verne or Mary Shelly.
Of course!
To me this announcement smells like a ploy to undermine his rivals.
Huge PR splaff: "I could do it any time I wanted. I just don't wanna. Honest"
What are the odds that a Russian team is much closer and in the midst of a final round of fundraising?
( Definitely red for Mammoth. I'll have mine served blue, with fava beans and a nice chianti, please. )
The Old Kingdom Pyramids in Giza at least were built about 2500 BC so 4500 years ago, not 5000.
The Middle Kingdom Pyramids were about 4000 years ago.
They didn't bother with Pyramids in the New Kingdom.
The oldest Egyptian Pyramid was Djoser's at Saqqara and that's still only about 2650 BC and that wasn't really a true pyramid. Really you'd be looking at the Red Pyramid as the first true pyramid.
Anyone for Serious Sam?
Point in question is still the same..
The beasties were still around when "Mankind" had already progressed into "civilisation" ( and then some). Of course.. all the stone age megalithic sites in europe/north asia, many predating the pyramids, do, of course, not count as "civilisation". The buggers didn't write anything down after all, and being practically nextdoor they are less interesting.
Whether or not we should re-introduce an elephant species in its more-or-less original environment? Well, we're talking about the siberian tundra and taiga. The local insects wouldn't mind, they won't disturb the birds much, and the bears and wolves would love the extra protein. It may even give the tigers left there there a chance on a decent lunch. And it's not as if the area there is prime real estate for its biggest potential enemy: humans.
I'd say it's worth a shot.
"Whether or not we should re-introduce an elephant species in its more-or-less original environment? Well, we're talking about the siberian tundra and taiga."
"The buggers didn't write anything down after all, and being practically nextdoor they are less interesting"
They didn't write down anything that we have identified as writing. That doesn't mean that they did not have some wort of written language. The Beaker People and their Bronze Age successors had a culture that spread across Europe. It might have depended on oral tradition; or it might be that they used something which wasn't that durable.
In any case, just because the last mammoth remains discovered were ca. 5000 years old doesn't mean that is when they went extinct. Scientists are usually much more cautious; it's journalists who announce that some part of a skeleton is from one of our ancestors, just based on the statement that it fits somewhere in with species X or race Y.
> or it might be that they used something which wasn't that durable.
Ugg told them and told them, if you want durable storage you can't trust it to spinning rust.
And as for those faddish crystal ball user-interfaces the girls loved, well, the batteries in them just don't last and then what have you got? Just a fancy paperweight.
Whether or not we should re-introduce an elephant species in its more-or-less original environment? Well, we're talking about the siberian tundra and taiga
I won't work as they will die off from heat stroke, etc. Haven't you heard? We're in the middle of a Global Climate Warming Crisis (or whatever it's being called this week)!!!! And millions of school children collecting pennies for food drops and air conditioning their habitat and the Greenpeacers waving signs saying "Save the Wooly Mammoth" will be for naught.
Icon for global warming ---------------------------->
"Should" is still a valid question, and it's independent of "will".
Personally, I'd vote no. In my lifetime, we've gone from holding intelligent animals in zoos in too-small cages, whales and dolphins in captivity, to allowing them greater freedom and an environment closer to their natural one. If the mammoth is approximately as intelligent as the elephant - which seems fairly likely - then what sort of conditions would you keep them in?
What would it be like, being the only one of your species? Mary Shelley didn't think it'd be much fun.