1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: I guess, well, well, what's that mango? So did you 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: know the world's largest be isn't as extinct as we thought, 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: not as extinct as we thought. I gotta feel like 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: that's too bad. No, it's actually a good thing. How 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: our giant monster be is a good thing. So for 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: for starters, the vs aren't exactly monsters. There are only 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: about an inch and a half long, and they've got 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: a two and a half inch wingspan, so it's about 10 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: the size of a thumb or I guess three times 11 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: the size of the average honeybee, not the size of 12 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: matras like you might be imagining. I mean maybe not. 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: But actually just pulled up a picture one of these 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: things while you were talking, and I have to say, 15 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: this is the most terrifying be I have seen in 16 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: my life. Like, why do they have such massive pincuers 17 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: on their faces? They almost look like these stag beetles, 18 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: but just creepier. Yeah, So I was trying not to 19 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: mention that because it makes them look so much scarier. 20 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: But they're actually just used to scrape resin off trees 21 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: to build their homes. So it's not that scary. But 22 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: here's what's really interesting. The species was first discovered in Indonesia, 23 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,119 Speaker 1: and this was back in eighteen fifty nine, and then 24 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: nobody could find it again after that, so it was 25 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: just presumed to have gone extinct. And then in this 26 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: entomologists stumbled across the bees alive and well in Indonesia 27 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: and he collected the specimen. He wrote about discovery, but 28 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: he didn't get any video or photos, and then the 29 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: bees trail went cold again. But it sounds like now 30 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: somebody has found them again. Is that right? Yeah, so 31 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: they thought they were extinct, but it's totally right. In 32 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: January this year, this photographer named Clay Bolt actually made 33 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: history by finding the giant bees in the wild for 34 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: the very first time. And it sounds like it was 35 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: a pretty surreal experience because apparently the female bees make 36 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: this really deep thrumming sound with their wings, so he 37 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: could not only hear them, he could actually feel the 38 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: air being displaced as they flew by. And it was 39 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: amazing because it's this creature that he'd only ever imagined about, right, 40 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: and suddenly he has this super tangible and memorable experience 41 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: with them. Anyway, Clay's account got me thinking that this 42 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: week it would be really fun to look into creatures 43 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: that had come back to life. And so that's what 44 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about, all these weird cases out 45 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: there where creatures seemingly died and then returned. So let's 46 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: dive in day their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. 47 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: I'm Will Pearson and it's always I'm joined by my 48 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: good friend man Guess Ticketer on the other side of 49 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: that soundproof class bringing a dead fern back to life. 50 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: At least I think that's what he's doing. That's our 51 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Oh, is that what he's doing. 52 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: I thought Tristan just brought in his neglect did the 53 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: house plant? Actually, Tristan's trick only works with one kind 54 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: of plant, what's called a resurrection fern, which is not 55 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: the fern that he's got over there. But you know, 56 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: during a drought or a heat spell, the ferns will 57 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: turn brown and they shrivel up, and if you look 58 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: at them, they look completely dead. But then you just 59 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: splash a little water on them and press though it 60 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,119 Speaker 1: takes like twenty four hours and the leaves unfurled, turn 61 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: green again, and the whole thing is good is new. 62 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of like magic. Yeah, it does 63 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: sound like something you'd study at Hogwarts in the homology 64 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: class or whatever. It's pretty cool. And even though it 65 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: does seem like magic, there is of course a scientific 66 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: explanation on how these ferns come back to life. These 67 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: resurrection ferns never actually die during this dying out process. 68 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: In fact, these plants can lose up to of their 69 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: water content and once they're exposed to water again, they'll 70 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: still spring right back. So you know, as long as 71 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: the fern can hold onto at least three percent of 72 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: its water, it actually won't die. That's pretty incredible. So 73 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: those numbers can't hold up for most plants right now, 74 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: with most plants, if they lose more than ten percent 75 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: of their water, they are completely done. And so the 76 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: saving grace for resurrection ferns is, you know, it's their 77 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: ability to synthesize these special proteins called dehydrants, and so 78 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: these allow the cell walls of the plant to kind 79 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: of fold and unfold is needed rather than just cracking 80 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: and crumbling like other plants do when they dry out. 81 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: And believe it or not, that's not the resurrection ferns 82 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: only claim to feign because back in astronauts actually took 83 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: a bunch of these ferns with them on the Space 84 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: Shuttle Discovery, and this was a feat that earned the 85 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: plant the title of first fern in space and that 86 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: special I like it, But what sort of experiments where 87 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: they running on these plants since this, Well, basically we 88 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,840 Speaker 1: wanted to see if the plants could still resurrect themselves 89 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: in zero gravity, and apparently they could with no problem, 90 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: And as later explained, the resurrection fern quote proved to 91 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: be a hearty space traveler and exhibited regeneration patterns unaltered 92 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: by its orbital adventure. So not only can they cheat death, 93 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: they can do it while rocketing through space at thousands 94 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: of miles an hour. I do like that, but to 95 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: be fair, resurrection ferns aren't the only ones to master 96 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: the old back from the dead routine. And it's not 97 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: just flowers and trees getting into the act either. The 98 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: animal kingdom has its own resurrection like events, including some 99 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: insects and amphibians that can freeze themselves during winter and 100 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: then thaw out in the spring totally alive and healthy. 101 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: But again, like with the ferns, those animals don't technically 102 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: die though, right, right, but they come pretty close. Like 103 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: you can take the wood frogs, which we've talked about 104 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: forever ago on the show. But when temperatures dropped, the 105 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: wood frogs go into what's basically the state of suspended 106 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: animation and all of their processes shut down. So there's 107 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: no heartbeat, there's no breathing, nothing, but their cells stay 108 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: alive regardless, and it thanks to this handy adaptation they've 109 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: evolved that lets them survive for long periods without oxygen. 110 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: So I remember talking about them, but remind me how 111 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: long they can actually stay like that, so it can vary. 112 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: I mean, most wood frogs do this extreme hibernation for 113 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: a few days at a time is to cope with 114 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: like a cold snap or something like that. But they 115 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: can stay frozen for longer, even for weeks if they 116 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 1: need to, which is pretty amazing. And you mentioned their 117 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: cells still receive oxygen during this big sleep, and that 118 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: makes sense. But what I'm wondering is how those cells 119 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: survive the freezing process at all. I mean, there's water 120 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: inside those cells, and water expands as it freezes to ice. 121 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: And so it seems like those newly formed ice crystals 122 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: would just break the cells apart from within. Yeah, that's 123 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: exactly right, and it's a big part of why a 124 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: cryopreservation isn't really an option for humans. Our cells just 125 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: aren't equipped to handle a deep freeze. And it's actually 126 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: the same for wood frogs. If they're cells froze, they 127 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: would die too. But that's why whenever there's this sub 128 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: zero temperature that sets in the frog's central organ starts 129 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: expelling moisture, and this way the water surrounding their organs 130 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,919 Speaker 1: freezes into ice, but their organs themselves and their cells don't. 131 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: And that's not the only trick either. Before a wood 132 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: frog fully freezes, its body floods the veins with a 133 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: special glucose molecule that works like an anti freeze. So 134 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: when the glucose reaches the frog cells, it will dissolve 135 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: in the water and bond with the water molecules, and 136 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: this means that water molecules in the cell won't be 137 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: able to bind with other water molecules to form ice. 138 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: So even if the water in a cell reaches subzero temperatures, 139 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: it still won't freeze. Okay, I think I got it. So, 140 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: so they really use the same strategy on a cellular 141 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: level as they do for like their central organs, right exactly. 142 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: But the more researchers learned about the frog's approach, the 143 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: better we get it perfecting things like freezing human organs 144 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,119 Speaker 1: for transport, and that technique might help us perfect cry 145 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: of preservation in the future, you know, getting humans into 146 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: this act of resurrecting themselves, which is a little bit creepy, 147 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: and also, if you think about it, some humans have 148 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: already jumped the gun on the whole resurrection thing. I 149 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: was actually reading about this rare phenomenon called auto resuscitation, 150 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: which is when a person who has declared dead spontaneously 151 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: comes back to life spontaneously. So this isn't like a 152 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: patient who's flatline that doctors used the clients on and 153 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: jolt them back to life. It's someone who comes back 154 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: to life on their own, that's right. So according to 155 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: a two thousand seven medical review I believe this was 156 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, they've actually 157 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: been over thirty cases of auto resuscitation since the initial 158 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: report on this condition back in two so on average, 159 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: these patients returned to life did so about seven minutes 160 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: after doctors stopped administering CPR. One patient made it all 161 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: the way to the hospital morgue before suddenly returning to life. 162 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: I mean, can you imagine what that must have been 163 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: like for the poor folks who had to wheel that 164 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: person down there and in the morgue no less, but 165 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: it's just so like, of all places to witness someone 166 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: coming back from the dead, this would have been such 167 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: a weird experience. So these people sort of pop back up? 168 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: Did they live for a while? I mean, the sad 169 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: reality is that the majority of these patients die shortly 170 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: after their auto resuscitated it. But I think what's amazing though, 171 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: is that in a little over a third of the 172 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: reported cases, the patients make a full recovery with little 173 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: or no neurological damage. That is wild. So do doctors 174 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: have any idea of why this is happening? Well, I mean, 175 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: it's tough to say for certain, because they've only been 176 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: like we said, thirty something cases reported in the last 177 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: forty years, and that's you know, not a lot of 178 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: data to go on. But that said, the reports do 179 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: offer some clues about what might be going on here, 180 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: for instance, the use of CPR, which is something that's 181 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: in all of these reported cases. So remember I said 182 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: the patients came back a few minutes after CPR was stopped. Well, 183 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: that gap in time might actually be the key to 184 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: understanding the whole phenomenon. It's a little bit complicated. So 185 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: I pulled this good breakdown from the Smithsonian and and 186 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: here's how they explain it. One popular theory is that 187 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: dynamic hyperinflation which can occur during CPR if the lungs 188 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: are rapidly filled with air without adequate time to exhale. 189 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: In theory, when emergency doctors stop CPR, the lung pressure 190 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: caused by dynamic hyper inflation returns to normal and the 191 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: blood begins to circulate with greater e is producing an 192 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: auto resuscitation effect. So how can doctors guard against this 193 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: kind of thing? Like? Is there a set amount of 194 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: time they need to wait? I don't think there's like 195 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: a hard and fast rule around this, but doctors who 196 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: have studied the subject do recommend waiting at least ten 197 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: or fifteen minutes after CPR has seas before declaring someone dead, 198 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: just to be on the safe side here. That is 199 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: so strange, like there's this period of time when death 200 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: isn't necessarily final, that someone might still pop back to life. Yeah, 201 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's you know, it's not super likely, 202 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: but it it does happen, it makes you wonder about 203 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: where the cut off is, Like that point past which 204 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: death is irreversible, it might be, you know, more fluid 205 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: than we had first guessed. Yeah, I think you're right. 206 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: In fact, I was reading about this concept people talk 207 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: about in the conservation world called the Lazarus taxon or 208 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: Lazarus species, and it's basically a group of plants and 209 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: animals that were believed to be extinct but we're later 210 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: rediscovered in the wild, like the giant b I mentioned 211 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. It's not the same 212 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: as the biological resurrections we've been talking about, but it's 213 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: another interesting case of death not being quite as final 214 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,559 Speaker 1: as we first looked at. I definitely want to hear 215 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: more about this, but before we get to that, let's 216 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius 217 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: and we're talking about Lazarus species. These are the extinct 218 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: plants and animals that turned out to be not so 219 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: extinct after all. And speaking of Lazarus, I actually forgot 220 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: to mention this earlier, but auto resuscitation actually shares some 221 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: biblical inspiration. It's actually nicknamed the Lazarus phenomenon. Have you 222 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: heard of this? So in both cases the name is 223 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: the nod to the New Testament story where Jesus performs 224 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: a miracle by raising this man named Lazarus from the dead. 225 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: So kind of a fun, if not surprising bit of 226 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 1: overlap between religion and science here. Yeah, is pretty cool. 227 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: But the term Lazarus taxon was coined in the nineteen 228 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: eighties by a couple of paleontologists, and they were studying 229 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: the fossil record. They noticed some organisms seemed to disappear 230 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: during one of Earth's massive extinction events and then miraculously 231 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: reappear on the record later, and these species taken together, 232 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: form what the scientists called the Lazarus taxon. So these 233 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 1: days the term applies more broadly, not just to fossilized organisms, 234 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: but also to living species that have been rediscovered after 235 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: the presumed extinction. Actually, there's a slight variation on this, 236 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: called the elvis taxon, which is species that seem like 237 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,719 Speaker 1: they re emerged, but it's actually an impostor. This is 238 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: a true thing. But back to the Lazarus. Like you 239 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: think it's the small club of species, but they're actually 240 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: about three hundred fifty species on that list includes everything 241 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: from plants to insects to every kind of vertebrae. Wow, 242 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,319 Speaker 1: so it really runs the gamut. But what are some 243 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: of the most famous on the list, or maybe just 244 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: a few favorites who came across. So my favorite species 245 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:00,439 Speaker 1: are are the ones that turned up in the super 246 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: unexpected places, and one of the oldest and most famous 247 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: of these is definitely the Seilic himp, which is this 248 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: ancient type of fish that was believed to have gone 249 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: extinct over sixty five million years ago. It was in 250 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: the supposed to be wiped out in that same extinction 251 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: event that claimed the dinosaurs. Yeah, I actually think I've 252 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: seen these guys before. They live like way down deep, 253 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: don't they. Yeah, I mean their bottom dwellers for sure. 254 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: But that's part of the reason it took us so 255 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: long to find one alive. That said, living silicants weren't 256 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: discovered thanks to some technological breakthrough or or some sort 257 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: of landmark expedition and instead, it all happened by sheer chance, 258 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: and here's how it went down. So in December, this 259 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: Natural History Museum curator named Marjorie Courtney Latimer was strolling 260 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 1: the docks in East London, South Africa. Apparently she did 261 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: this often as part of her work for the museum. 262 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,079 Speaker 1: She would just visit the local fisherman and if anyone 263 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: thought they had caught something interesting that day, Marjorie would 264 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: take a closer look at their catch, and on that 265 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: in December, she indeed found something interesting in the hall 266 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: of this fisherman named Captain Hendrik Goosen. So in his 267 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: pile of fish there was this bizarre looking fin that 268 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: Marjorie had never seen at the docks before, and this 269 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,559 Speaker 1: is how she described it. I picked away at a 270 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,199 Speaker 1: layer of slime to reveal the most beautiful fish I 271 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: had ever seen. It was pale mauve blue with faint 272 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: flecks of whitish spots. It had an iridescent silver blue 273 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: green sheen all over it. It was covered in hard scales, 274 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: and it had four limb like fins and a strange 275 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: puppy dog tail. Wait, let me make sure I have 276 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: this trait. So she found what is basically a living fossil, 277 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: and this was at a South African fish market. Yeah, 278 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: and it was actually really big too, so the silicon 279 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: she found at the market weighed a hundred and twenty 280 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: seven pounds, which made it tough to transport back to 281 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: the museum. And in the end Marjorie and her assistant 282 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: they managed to get the fish into the backseat of 283 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: a taxi, but they nearly got thrown of that too, 284 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: because the fish smelled so bad. Apparently, as they pushed 285 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: it through the door and finally got in, the driver 286 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: was shouting, no stinking fish in my tax together. I mean, honestly, 287 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: can you really blame the guy? Yeah, I mean you can. 288 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: And once they explained the circumstance and probably how big 289 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: a tip they were going to give, the driver agreed 290 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: to help. Although that wasn't the only obstacle Marjorie face 291 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 1: that day. So when when she got the fish back 292 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: to the museum, she still wasn't sure what she'd found. 293 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: Her expertise was actually in birds, not fish, and when 294 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: she asked the chairman of the museum board to help 295 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: her identify the specimen, he told her it's nothing more 296 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: than a rock cod and then he left to go 297 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: on his holiday. You know, it's funny, it almost reads 298 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: like parody. But well, obviously the museum was no help. 299 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: So how did Marjorie ultimately crack this case? So the 300 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: first thing she did was to find some way to 301 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: preserve the fish long term. She tried the morge at 302 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: her local hospital, but they flat out refused to store fish, 303 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: no matter how ancient it was. And uh, in the end, 304 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: she had to settle for getting it taxidermied instead. So 305 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: she reached out to a fish curator at a different 306 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: South African museum. This guy at J. LB. Smith, and 307 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: she sent the description and sketches of what she had found. 308 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: Within a month or so, Smith decided to make a 309 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: trip to see the fish for himself, and he definitely 310 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: wasn't disappointed with what he found. In fact, listen to 311 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 1: how he later described the day he arrived at Marjorie's 312 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: museum quote, although I had come prepared, the first side 313 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: of the fish hit me like a white hot blast 314 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: and made me feel shaky and queer. My body tingled, 315 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: I stood as if stricken to stone. Yes, there was 316 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: not a shadow of a doubt. Scale by sale, bone 317 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: by bone, Finn by fin it was a true silican. 318 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: That must have felt like such vindication. Yeah, but plus 319 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: it must have made the museum chairman feel like such 320 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: a chump when he got back from his vacation. I still, 321 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: I mean, I know I said this a little bit. 322 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: I still can't believe she found an extinct species at 323 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: a fish market. It just it seems like such a 324 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: weird place to find this. Well, the craziest part is 325 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: that it wasn't even the only time that's happened. In fact, 326 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: there are plenty of Lazarus species that have showed up 327 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: at food markets. There's the smooth tooth black tip shark 328 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: that reappeared in this fish market in the Middle East. 329 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,439 Speaker 1: There's the low astion rock rat, which was rediscovered at 330 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: a meat market, and and the Erican forest turtle, which 331 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: debuted at a food market in China. But the list 332 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: just keeps going. I'm pretty sure you made up a 333 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: couple of those. But and I'm not sure what it 334 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: says about us in the first place, that we find 335 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,639 Speaker 1: so many supposedly extinct animals on our dinner tables. Just 336 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,359 Speaker 1: it's just so weird. Yeah, it kind of makes me 337 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: wonder if any Lazar species have actually gone extinct for real, 338 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: like that way, like he was just eight too many 339 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: of them without scientists walking by and stopping them from eating. 340 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: But uh, I, I know we've got a few more 341 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: things to tackle, But first let's take a quick break. 342 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: Welcome back to part time Genius. So, well, I know 343 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: you wanted to talk about de extinction, which is the 344 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: ability to bring vanished species back to if uh do 345 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: you think that's something we'll be able to do one day? 346 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,640 Speaker 1: And if so, how long until we're all riding Willy man? 347 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: It's to work like God intended. I mean, I think 348 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: it's gonna be a little while on that one. But yeah, 349 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: to the question of whether we'll be able to bring 350 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: an extinct species back, I mean, the truth is we 351 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: already have, or at least we we sort of did. 352 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: So I'm curious about this sort of you speak of. 353 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:25,679 Speaker 1: Well all right, well let me back up just a 354 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: little bit here. So have you ever heard of Celia, 355 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: who happens to be the last Boucardo? No, it sounds 356 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: like a Tolkien character, though it's it's actually an extinct 357 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,199 Speaker 1: species of Ibex that used to live in Spain and 358 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: I think in southern France, and so basically picture a 359 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: mountain goat or a ram and you're not far off 360 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: from this. But alright, so back in two thousand, the 361 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 1: last Boucardo on Earth was sadly crushed to death by 362 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: a falling tree. And her name was Celia, right right. 363 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 1: So that wasn't the end of the story there though, 364 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,120 Speaker 1: because scientists tried to revive her species, and they used 365 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: the nucleus of a cell extracted intact from Celia. So 366 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: you're saying they cloned her, Well, it's sort of like 367 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: this wasn't like with Dolly the sheep, where her nucleus 368 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: could be implanted in the egg of a sheet from 369 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: the same species. I mean, remember, Celia was the last 370 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: one and there weren't any of her kind around to 371 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: donate an egg, so instead, scientists inserted the nucleus from 372 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: Celia into the unfertilized egg cell of a different kind 373 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,679 Speaker 1: of Spanish ibex. Then they took the resulting embryo and 374 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: transferred it to the womb of a living goat. It's 375 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: just a lot of connections here, And almost a year later, 376 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: in July of two thousand three, the first baby Boucardo 377 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: since Celia was born, which is kind of amazing. It 378 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: sounds like some bizarre science tur Ducan like like bucardo 379 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: wrapped in an I vex wrapped in a living goat. 380 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: But is the Bucardo back for real? Now? It's it's 381 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: de extinct now. Unfortunately, the baby Bucardo was born with 382 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: a long defect and only survived of seven minutes, And 383 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: so that means that, depending on how you look at it, 384 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: the Bucardo has really gone extinct twice at this point, 385 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: not not the happy ending we might have looked for. 386 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: But of course that's only if you consider that the 387 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,159 Speaker 1: bucardo made from Celia's cell to be a true Bucardo 388 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 1: and not some kind of hybrid, you know, like a 389 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: Spanish ibex with Bucardo like traits. I guess, so, I 390 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: guess any other species we tried to de extinct would 391 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: also be that way, right, Like like we couldn't make 392 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: a d percent willy mammoth. It would always be an 393 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: animal with cells that most certainly contain elephant DNA and 394 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,640 Speaker 1: just a little bit of mammoth DNA like the nucleus 395 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: they took from Celia, you know, and and with the 396 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: long extinct creature like a wooly mammoth, you'd be even 397 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: further into hybrid territory. And that's because there aren't any 398 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: living mammoths to harvest intact nuclei from, so scientists will 399 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: be working with far less DNA than they had with 400 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: Celia the bucardo. So all the efforts that you hear 401 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: about bringing back the wooly mammoth, those aren't attempts to 402 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: clone a mammoth so much as they are attempts to 403 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: make an elephant mammoth hybrid. And so there are new 404 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: genome editing methods like Crisper, so scientists could kind of 405 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: cheat a little bit by changing the DNA sequences of 406 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: elephants to it'll look a little bit more like the 407 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 1: DNA sequences of mammoths. That's why I started by saying 408 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: that d extinction is sort of possible. I mean, if 409 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: you're willing to accept hybrids as the real thing, or 410 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: close enough to it, then I guess the extinction will 411 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: definitely be something we can do within the next decade 412 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 1: or so. But on the other hand, if you want 413 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: a full on recreation of a vana species, the same genes, 414 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: same behaviors, all of that I mean, that's pretty much 415 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,680 Speaker 1: never going to happen in most cases. There just aren't 416 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: enough ancient DNA lying around to completely reconstruct an animal's genome. 417 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: So for all of us Jurassic Park fans, it does 418 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: sound like dinosaur and William mammoth hybrids are still on 419 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: the table in the not so distant future, and gene 420 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: editing could actually get them looking pretty close to how 421 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: they did originally. Yeah, and that's actually more like the 422 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: Jurassic Park dinosaurs than straight up clones would be anyway. 423 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: And you know, I'm not sure if you remember, but 424 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: in the movie they filled the gaps in the DNA 425 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,119 Speaker 1: sequences with frog DNA and they messed with the genomes 426 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: so they actually all have scales instead of feathers. So 427 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,880 Speaker 1: we're on the verge of being able to do something 428 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: pretty similar to that. I mean, we'd probably use chicken 429 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: DNA as our gap instead of frogs, but the basic 430 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: idea wouldn't be too far off from that. And so, well, 431 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 1: what about extinct species that have died out more recently, 432 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: like hundreds or thousands of years ago, for instance, instead 433 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: of millions? Like would those actually be better candidates for 434 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: d extinction? Absolutely? I mean, the passenger pigeon is one 435 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: example that comes up a lot. They went extinct in 436 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, so recovering their DNA wouldn't be 437 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: that difficult, and there's a good chance the eggs from 438 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: a related species of pigeon might be close enough of 439 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: a match to create a viable embryo. But funnily enough, 440 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: researchers say that the easiest species to resurrect would actually 441 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: be the Neanderthal, which is just so weird to think about. So, 442 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: according to Scientific American Quote, there appear to be just 443 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 1: slightly more than thirty thousand genetic mutations that differentiate us 444 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: from them, and Homo sapiens is the complicated organism best 445 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: understood by human geneticist. So of course, bringing us, you know, 446 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: a sentient human species back to life is a giant 447 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 1: ethical can of worms. So I don't imagine we'll be 448 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: bringing Neanderthals back anytime soon. At least you're telling myself that, 449 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: which is probably for the best, because you know, I 450 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: E read that even though there's no ideal credit for 451 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: the extinction, the willy mammoth would still be the best 452 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: choice just because of how much good will it would 453 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 1: generate in the public And it makes sense if you 454 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: think about it, right, Like, bringing back to William mammoth 455 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: has been a collective dream for decades now. Plus they 456 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,640 Speaker 1: look big, free elephants, like it just feels so much 457 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 1: less threatening than a t rex. I mean, still pretty threatening, 458 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: but but I think you're right, and there's actually another 459 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: reason why raising the mammoth might be the best way 460 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: to go, and it's something that you'd probably never guess, 461 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: which is climate change. So you're gonna have to explain 462 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: this one, all right, Well, it sounds ridiculous, but there 463 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:12,119 Speaker 1: actually is something to this. According to that GEO, Siberia 464 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 1: was home to mammoths and these other giant grazing mammals 465 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: about twelve thousand years ago, and back then the entire 466 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: region was a grassland, not the moss covered tundra that 467 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 1: it is today. So I'm having a tough time understanding 468 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: this year you're saying the landscape changed into something less 469 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: productive just because the mammots when extinct. It is possible, yeah, 470 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: I mean, the idea is that the mammoths and the 471 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: other grazing animals used to maintain the grassy steps by 472 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: you know, trampling moss and shrubs, breaking up the soil, 473 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: fertilizing what they're droppings. But you know, once the mammoths 474 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 1: went the way of the buffalo, the moss and the 475 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: trees took over, and you know, this region gradually transformed 476 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: into a tundra. And so some researchers think that reintroducing 477 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,439 Speaker 1: mammoths to the tundra could actually cause the ecosystem to 478 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: shift back again, which is really interesting and it's how 479 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: was like good news for the mammoths and and maybe 480 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: for any would be farmers in the region, But how 481 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: exactly would this help with climate change? Well, you know, 482 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 1: it's because the frozen ground in Siberia contains a huge 483 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: amount of carbon, about twice as much as what's in 484 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,439 Speaker 1: the atmosphere already, and the only thing keeping those carbon 485 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,879 Speaker 1: stores in check are the region's Arctic temperatures. So as 486 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: temperatures continue to rise, the chance of that perma frost 487 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: thawing out and that carbon being released rises with them. 488 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: And that's where the mammoths would come in. Like, if 489 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: they were able to transform the region back into a grassland, 490 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,919 Speaker 1: the carbon stores just might stay put. And Smithsonian actually 491 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: had a nice breakdown of why this is exactly, and 492 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: so here's how they explained it. Because grass absorbs less 493 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: sunlight than trees, this would cause the ground to absorb 494 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: less heat and in turn keep the carbon pools and 495 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:54,239 Speaker 1: their greenhouse gases on ice for longer. Large numbers of 496 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,479 Speaker 1: mammoths would also trample snow cover, stopping it from acting 497 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: like insulation for the ground, and allow the perma frost 498 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 1: to feel the effects of the bitter Arctic winters. Again, this, 499 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: in theory, would keep the ground colder for longer. Yeah, 500 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: I don't see how anything could go wrong with this planet. 501 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,400 Speaker 1: It's gonna be great. It is funny like, on one hand, 502 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: resurrecting a species kind of feels like playing god, and 503 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: that's one of the main arguments you'll hear from opponents 504 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 1: of the extinction. And yet at the same time, since 505 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: humans were responsible for so many recent extinctions, it also 506 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,120 Speaker 1: feels like we were playing god when we wipe these 507 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: creatures out in the first place. So maybe bringing them 508 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 1: back as a way to right some of the wrongs 509 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,679 Speaker 1: our species has done the nature, especially in cases like 510 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: a mammoths, where the revival might also benefit the environment 511 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: as a whole. Yeah, but in a minute, may go, 512 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: your main motivation is just wanting to ride one to work. 513 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 1: You said it earlier. Yeah, I mean if riding a 514 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: William Ammit to work is wrong, then brother, I don't 515 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: want to be right dollar for every time he said that. 516 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: All right, Well, while we're waiting on science to deliver 517 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,400 Speaker 1: on that promise, what do you say we have ourselves 518 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: a quick fact off sounds good? All right, I'll kick 519 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 1: it off here. So remember that Siberian permafrost that we 520 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,400 Speaker 1: talked about a few minutes ago, Well, it turns out 521 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: it's home to more than just carbon deposits. Just last year, 522 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,679 Speaker 1: researchers discovered that the frigid ground had also preserved ancient 523 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: life in the form of two forty thousand year old 524 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: nematodes or roundworms. So, even more incredibly, the researchers were 525 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: able to successfully quote defrost the creatures, according to report 526 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: from the Siberian Times. Isn't that amazing? There's something called 527 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: the Siberian Times, not the fact the fact that there 528 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: is a Siberian Times. I just love that. And if 529 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,439 Speaker 1: that's true, then round worms can endure cryo preservation for 530 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: way way longer than we thought the previous record for 531 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,679 Speaker 1: a nematode was it was revived like thirty nine years 532 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 1: of dormancy or something like that. But not only that, 533 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,120 Speaker 1: it would also mean that those resurrected roundworms are now 534 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,360 Speaker 1: the oldest live animals on the planet, and by a 535 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: pretty wide margin, of course. Yeah. So, so I've got 536 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: a weird one for you. The name Lazarus came up 537 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,199 Speaker 1: a lot this week, so I did some digging on 538 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: the name itself, and it turns out it's going through 539 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: a bit of a resurgence right now. According to rankings 540 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: on on the top baby naming sites, the name Lazarus 541 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: is now more popular than it's been in over a century. 542 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: And so what what are these reports based on? Exactly? Yeah, 543 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: So a lot of the data comes from the users 544 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: on these sites, but the rankings also pull from the 545 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,200 Speaker 1: Social Security Administration, So things like how many babies born 546 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: in two thousand eighteen were named Lazarus shows up on this. 547 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: The data goes all the way back to about nine hundred, 548 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: which is when the name Lazarus was at its peak 549 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: as the one thousand, hundred fifth most popular name in 550 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 1: the country. Wait, and that was the name at its 551 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: peak popularity. Yeah, but but you've got to keep this 552 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: in perspective. For the rest of the twentieth century, the 553 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: name hovered between the three thousand and four thousand most 554 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: popular name, and it started to rise in the early 555 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: nineties and now it's back in the low thou and 556 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,000 Speaker 1: it's just like it was about a hundred years ago. 557 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: Oh wow, it's impressive. Alright. Well, one anything I read 558 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: about this week is an experiment with cryo preserve seeds, 559 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: and it's called the Project Baseline Resurrection Approach. So basically, 560 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: millions of seeds from different plant species are being collected 561 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 1: and then shipped to a seed bank in Colorado and 562 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: then they're kept on ice for anywhere between five and 563 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: fifty years. So the idea is that once the time 564 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,959 Speaker 1: is up, scientists of the future can actually warm up 565 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: the seeds, plant them, and bring them back to life. 566 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: And that way they'll be able to compare these ancestor 567 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,480 Speaker 1: plants with their descendants, you know, which will be the 568 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: plants collected from the exact same location where the ancestor 569 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: seeds were first harvested. And so the hope is that 570 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: by you know, looking at this side by side comparison 571 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: across multiple decades. It will actually allow the scientists to 572 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: see how a certain plant population changed over time. That's 573 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: really cool. It's kind of like a botanical time capsule. 574 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: But okay, here's a good one. I found about Caspian horses, 575 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: which Nattio describes as having the hallmark movie stylings of 576 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: all Lazarus species. So here's what happened. In nine seven, 577 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 1: an American horse breeder and researcher named Louise Leyland married 578 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: this Iranian aristocrat named Narci Ferous and they moved to 579 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: Tehran together, and a few years later, the couple opened 580 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: a children's riding academy so that Louise could share her 581 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: love of riding with all the locals. The only problem 582 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: was that the stallion's native to the region were way 583 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: too rough and bad tempered for the kids to ride safely. 584 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: So Louise asked around and she hoped to find this 585 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,800 Speaker 1: alternative horse for the kids, and she started hearing these 586 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: rumors about a group of strong but friendly miniature horses 587 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: that lived tucked away in this remote mountain region near 588 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: the Caspian Sea. So, based on that hunch, Louise got 589 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: some friends and they went on this expedition, and sure 590 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: enough they actually found the group of horses that they'd 591 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: heard about, And the more time she spent with them, 592 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: the more she realized they resembled this ancient lost breed 593 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,240 Speaker 1: of horse that these Persian royals had carved all over 594 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: their palaces. It was called the Caspian horse, so Louise 595 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: made the connection almost immediately, but it wasn't until the 596 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: ninety nineties that DNA testing was finally able to confirm 597 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: her suspicion. But Louise knew the horse's pedigree from the start, 598 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: so she brought them back to Tehran for students, and 599 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: to this day, Caspians are still considered the ideal starter 600 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: horse for young riders. Wow. Alright, So to recap, a 601 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: riding instructor turned adventurer discovered a lost colony of royal 602 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,880 Speaker 1: horses and then marched them back to civilization so that 603 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: children of Iran would had something safe to ride. I 604 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: don't think I can top that today, Mega, so I 605 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: think you win the trophy. Congratulations, Thank you so much, 606 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: And that doesn't for today's part time genius from Gabe 607 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: Tristan Willemy. Thank you so much for listening. Part Time 608 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: Genius is a production of I heart Radio. For more 609 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: podcast from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 610 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 611 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 1: H