They’re small, fluffy and kind of cute, but these mice represent a milestone in de-extinction efforts, according to their creators. The animals have undergone a series of genetic tweaks that give them woolly mammoth-like features—and their creation may bring scientists a step closer to resurrecting the ancient, giant animals that roamed the tundra thousands of years ago.
Scientists at Colossal have been working to “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth, since the company was launched four years ago.
Now, her team has shown that they can create healthy animals that look the way the team wants them to look—and pave the way towards recreating a woolly mammoth-like elephant. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
Should we be moving data centers to space?
Last week, the Florida-based company Lonestar Data Holdings launched a shoebox-size device carrying data from internet pioneer Vint Cerf and the government of Florida, among others, on board Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander. When its device lands on the moon later this week, the company will be the first to explicitly test out a question that has been on some technologists’ minds of late: Maybe it’s time to move data centers off Earth?
After all, energy-guzzling data centers are springing up like mushrooms all over the world, devouring precious land, straining our power grids, consuming water, and emitting noise. Building facilities in orbit or on or near the moon might help ameliorate many of these issues.
But for these data centers to succeed, they must be able to withstand harsh conditions in space, pull in enough solar energy to operate, and make economic sense. Read the full story.
—Tereza Pultarova
