admiralpaco

[admiralpaco]

[admiralpaco]

[admiralpaco]

if your leftism doesn’t include fighting antisemitism then I’m really not interested in your leftism

[admiralpaco]

[admiralpaco]

"Once thought to be extinct, black-footed ferrets are the only ferret native to North America, and are making a comeback, thanks to the tireless efforts of conservationists.

Captive breeding, habitat restoration, and wildlife reintegration have all played a major role in bringing populations into the hundreds after near total extinction.

But one other key development has been genetic cloning.

In April [2024], the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced the cloning of two black-footed ferrets from preserved tissue samples, the second and third ferret clones in history, following the birth of the first clone in December 2020. 

Cloning is a tactic to preserve the health of species, as all living black-footed ferrets come from just seven wild-caught descendants.  This means their genetic diversity is extremely limited and opens them up to greater risks of disease and genetic abnormalities. 

Now, a new breakthrough has been made.

Antonia, a black-footed ferret cloned from the DNA of a ferret that lived in the 1980s has successfully birthed two healthy kits of her own: Sibert and Red Cloud.

These babies mark the first successful live births from a cloned endangered species — and is a milestone for the country’s ferret recovery program.

The kits are now three months old, and mother Antonia is helping to raise them — and expand their gene pool.

In fact, Antonia’s offspring have three times the genetic diversity of any other living ferrets that have come from the original seven ancestors.

Researchers believe that expanded genetic diversity could help grow the ferrets’ population and help prime them to recover from ongoing diseases that have been massively detrimental to the species, including sylvatic plague and canine distemper. 

“The successful breeding and subsequent birth of Antonia's kits marks a major milestone in endangered species conservation,” said Paul Marinari, senior curator at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. 

“The many partners in the Black-footed Ferret Recovery Program continue their innovative and inspirational efforts to save this species and be a model for other conservation programs across the globe.”

Antonia actually gave birth to three kits, after mating with Urchin, a 3-year-old male ferret. One of the three kits passed away shortly after birth, but one male and one female are in good health and meeting developmental milestones, according to the Smithsonian.

Mom and babies will remain at the facility for further research, with no plans to release them into the wild.

According to the Colorado Sun, another cloned ferret, Noreen, is also a potential mom in the cloning-breeding program. The original cloned ferret, Elizabeth Ann, is doing well at the recovery program in Colorado, but does not have the capabilities to breed. 

Antonia, who was cloned using the DNA of a black-footed ferret named Willa, has now solidified Willa’s place as the eighth founding ancestor of all current living ferrets.

“By doing this, we’ve actually added an eighth founder,” said Tina Jackson, black-footed ferret recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in an interview with the Colorado Sun. 

“And in some ways that may not sound like a lot, but in this genetic world, that is huge.”

Along with the USFWS and Smithsonian, conservation organization Revive & Restore has also enabled the use of biotechnologies in conservation practice. Co-founder and executive director Ryan Phelan is thrilled to welcome these two new kits to the black-footed ferret family.

“For the first time, we can definitively say that cloning contributed meaningful genetic variation back into a breeding population,” he said in a statement.

“As these kits move forward in the breeding program, the impact of this work will multiply, building a more robust and resilient population over time.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, November 4, 2024

[admiralpaco]

I got you! On the left hand side are four statements. The first one is false, the last three are true. On the right hand side it shows the voter preference of those who got the statement correct and incorrect.

Example: For the first statement (which is false) "Violent crime rates are at or near all time highs in most major American cities", those that answered the statement correctly were 65 points in favor of Harris (This is a roughly 82/18 split of Harris vs Trump!). Of those that answered incorrectly, 26 points in favor of Trump (or a 63/37 Trump vs Harris split).

And on down the list, for every one of these four statements Harris was favored by those that answered them correctly. Trump was favored by those that answered them incorrectly.

this chart is what haunts me. there is a massive amount of misinformation driving people to think that the problems Trump talks about solving even exist. without a functioning press, how do you campaign effectively against someone whose voters aren't even living in reality in three months

[admiralpaco]

[admiralpaco]

Where's that tweet about people still living long fulfilling lives even through the fall of the roman empire because I think about it constantly

[admiralpaco]

ohhh but of course misha mentioned the confession 🥺

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[admiralpaco]

everyone shut the fuck up and look at this snake named barcode

[admiralpaco]

I think it's important to remember that every single religion can be twisted for violence and oppression and abuse and control. Yes, including the one that you think can't be. But quickly, before anti-theists start saying that religion is an inherently evil violence accelerant, remember that this is true for any ideology, including anti-theism. Violence and oppression and abuse and control happens wherever there are people who think that those things will help them get what they want.

[admiralpaco]

I'm sure many people have already shared this here, but I think it's important that people here on Tumblr need to see this.

"I disagree with Kamala's position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her?" by US Senator Bernie Sanders

[admiralpaco]

There was an article that came out this election season (USA 2024) of an 81 year old woman voting for the first time this year. Her husband had always told her she shouldn't vote. He died last year.

This is a thing that happens and it is naive to suggest it isn't.

[admiralpaco]

looks like october is…. octover