With a skin sample from a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth, scientists are gaining new insights into what made the animals tick. The findings could also help controversial de-extinction efforts.
Scientists at a biotech company say they have created a key stem cell for Asian elephants that could help save the endangered species and become a steppingstone for bringing back the woolly mammoth.
Lately, paleoecologist Audrey Rowe has been a bit preoccupied with a girl named Elma. That's because Elma is ... a woolly mammoth. And 14,000 years ago, when Elma was alive, her habitat in interior Alaska was rapidly changing. The Ice Age was coming to a close and human hunters were starting early settlements. Which leads to an intriguing question: Who, or what, killed her? In the search for answers, Audrey traces Elma's life and journey through — get this — a single tusk. Today, she shares her insights on what the mammoth extinction from thousands of years ago can teach us about megafauna extinctions today with guest host Nate Rott.
Thoughts on other ancient animal stories we should tell? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might make a future episode about it!
The meatball is a one-off and has not been tasted, even by its creators, nor is it planned to be put into production. Instead, it was intended to get people talking about the future of meat.
Michael R. Jackson put 20 years into polishing his audacious, autobiographical musical, and then theaters went dark. Now, 'A Strange Loop' is building buzz on its way to New York City.
A company formed by Harvard genetics professor George Church, known for his pioneering work in genome sequencing and gene splicing, hopes to genetically resurrect woolly mammoths.
