The problem with Michael Crichton, is too many of his books were turned into movies so he’s in the “Stephen King Zone”.
This is my review of Chocolate Lava Cake Stout (Trader Joe’s):
A biotech startup out of Dallas made a startling claim: they brought Dire Wolves back from extinction. For context the Dire Wolf went extinct at the end of the ice age, along with many other megafauna like the Wooly Mammoth, Giant Sloth, Saber Tooth Tiger, and Andre the Giant. Recently, the species has gained some amount of attention due to the Game of Thrones series, as Boromir’s bastard child adopts an albino Dire Wolf cub somewhere in the first chapter. Which is about how far I got into The Song of Ice and Fire before it became apparent Martin was going to irritate the shit out of me if I proceeded any further.
There are a few caveats before I break out the Ian Malcolm quote. Dire Wolves genetically share 99.5% of their genome with Gray Wolves, which itself shares enough DNA they don’t differentiate them at all from Mr. Tater, who is the mostly Chihuahua mix whom I cohabitate. So the claim sounds plausible, right?
The wolves were created by genetically editing the DNA of gray wolf cells to more closely resemble that of a dire wolf; this edited DNA then served as the basis for embryos implanted in surrogate dogs.
Colossal has argued that these edits—20 in total—were enough to produce wolves that are phenotypically (physically or visibly) similar to the dire wolves that once roamed the Americas tens of thousands of years ago—an approach the company calls “functional de-extinction.” But at least some outside researchers aren’t so sure, arguing that these edits are far too few to truly bridge the genetic gap between today’s wolves and the dire wolves of the past.
So in the end its really just bluster? Not surprising. Besides this isn’t even the first time we resurrected an extinct species. I’ll leave this with a short video where this soft spoken Soyjack looking weenie compares the whole thing to vegan mayonnaise. On vegan mayonnaise…I will happily break out Dr. Ian Malcolm quote:
Lava Cake Stout? I have a hard time imagining how they thought this was going to work without a blob of hot liquid chocolate exploding out of a moist, delicate but ultimately not very sweet cake. Nothing about this was warm or explosive, but it wasn’t particularly sweet either. Delicate? Eh. The marketing fell short to the point where its all just bluster. Doesn’t make it bad though, as I rather liked it all the same. Chocolate Lava Cake Stout (Trader Joe’s): 4.1/5 8% ABV
Nothing wrong with bad marketing for a good beer.
A biotech startup out of Dallas made a startling claim: they brought Dire Wolves back from extinction.
I skimmed through an article about this the other day. How are these things (aside from the IVF) substantively different from labradoodles?
Didn’t they genetic engineer them, editing a couple of genes?
The article i was was extremely tech-lite, so didn’t specify if they went with in-situ CRISPER-cas or gene inserts or what… but labradoodles are just a cross. They claimed gene edits, so a crossbreed isn’t the same thing.
I really want one, but only after they’ve completed 100% gene replacement (instead of the 90% they brag about).
There’s a small zoological park in Miami that features a sloth encounter.
Last time we were in the city, I asked my wife if she wanted to check it out. She told me that she’d already been with me for thirty years, so….
Kristen Bell’s Sloth Meltdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5jw3T3Jy70
I’d gleefully go! Sloths are interesting creatures. For what they got, they seem to have it pretty well-sorted. Gutsy lifestyle, especially for a ‘decently’ sized mammal, maybe 10-15lbs.
“They usually move at an average speed of 4 m (13 ft) per minute but can move at a marginally higher speed of 4.5 m (15 ft) per minute if they are in immediate danger from a predator.” That’ll save him! Quite cool how their lack of movement ‘tricks’ predators into not noticing ’em, hiding in plain sight, as it were. They’d have been just fine against T-rex. (From the movies, at least.)
I bet they taste like shit, but preconception is preconception. Just saw they have much less muscle mass :body weight than most mammals. Maybe the lackadaisical fatty meat mass is more tender. If being a successful lazy bastard helps you NOT get eaten, then go for it! But if you’re tasty, I will eat you.
As I recall, breeders in the 20th century managed to ‘resurrect’ the aurochs (wild ancestor of our cattle) and the tarpan (wild ancestor of Equus equus). Reconstruction is probably a more accurate term for what they did, back-breeding ‘primitive-looking’ strains of cattle and horses to try and match depictions and descriptions of both species (which lingered on into modern times).
Too local news: https://www.wweek.com/news/2025/04/11/oregon-dmv-discloses-discovery-of-an-additional-118-non-citizens-in-voter-file/
Yet another discovery. The apologists keep hand waving away as just a drop in the bucket. Voter fraud isn’t real.
“Hey babe, I only cheated on you with three others. That you know about. Trust me.”
Well, yeah 118 is not much. But you wonder what percentages of the problem we actually find.
Except that’s just the latest revelation. DMV released 5 separate admissions since last September. Every time the number of both registered non citizens and non citizen voters increases. Total is over 1700 registrations and 30 voters. That they know about about admit. All of which was identified as a potential issue when motor voter was passed.
Non citizens can’t be registered as citizen voters. Lie
Non citizens don’t want to and won’t vote even if they were registered. Lie
Ineligible voters are prosecuted for voter fraud. Zero prosecutions of any of the 30. Lie
At what point do you start believing a chronic and habitual liar? And the last Secretary of State added the Oregon Health Plan, which enrolls illegals, to automatic voter registration.
Zero repercussions, zero prosecutions. But it’s fixed now. Trust us.
They will do anything to keep their fraud by mail system going without any meaningful safeguards in place.
Hawaii has the same 100% vote by mail scam. Quite typical really.
The last election I received my ballot and TWO others. I guess I should consider this an improvement since I have received four additional ballots in the past.
Thats the spirit. Its only…
The last election I received my ballot and TWO others.
Three total ballots? Down from a past total of five?
Rookie numbers. They need to pump those numbers up!
but labradoodles are just a cross. They claimed gene edits, so a crossbreed isn’t the same thing.
They’re still just chasing a specific mix of breed characteristics.
Yeah selective breeding is usually considered a form of genetic engineering. One we’ve known how to do for a long long time.
It’s not like they cloned a dna sample from the la Brea tar Pit.
You sure about that?
I want a Sabre tooth kitten.
I got one of those, he attacks my Dachshund, not very bright
What a weenie.
A little history for today…
On this date in 1945, the USS Missouri held a burial at sea for a teenaged kamikaze pilot who had attacked the ship the day before.
Also OTD in 1945, God achieves with one stroke what the voters had failed to do for 12+ years.
Reminds me of this.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burial_At_Sea_of_Soviet_Submariners_from_Hughes_Glomar_Explorer.webm
“Thats Bach”
Aaaah, Bach.
Damned laugh track.
Oops
The Detroit automaker said the decisions are not related to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“This adjustment is directly related to responding to market demand and re-balancing inventory,” GM said in an emailed statement. “Production of BrightDrop and EV battery assembly will remain at CAMI.”
——-
GM launched BrightDrop as a fully owned subsidiary in 2021, before folding it into the company’s fleet business in 2023. It then folded BrightDrop into its Chevrolet brand in 2024.
GM had high expectations of making BrightDrop into a new, lucrative growth business for the automaker, but sales and revenue did not meet the company’s initial expectations.
BrightDrop was expected to generate $1 billion in revenue in 2023. GM declined to disclose BrightDrop’s revenue, but it’s highly unlikely the target was achieved.
In 2023 and 2024, the automaker sold only about 2,000 of the electric vans, according to its sales reports.
The plans for the idling come weeks after a Detroit Free Press report said hundreds of BrightDrop vehicles were lining a storage lot in Flint, Michigan.
EVs are the future!
They sold 2,000 of them. Not stated in the article is at how much of a loss per unit sold.
So many jokes…..
I dumb dumb idea wont make money by making up in volume, compelling consumers or government subsidies. Reality always wins in the end.
4.1 out of five is high praise indeed from our excellent beer reviewer.
Might have to seek it out.
Also, hard pass on genetic splicing tryna be de-extinction.
Why? Would could possibly go wrong?
Its a beautiful day to fire up the wood burner
First smoke of the year. Just a rack of ribs to get things going.
*raises hand*
I’ll take some ribs.
🙂
Not so beautiful here: Snow.
That sky looks fake.
It was absolutely wonderdully real
Bill Maher will emerge as the center-left voice against the center-left voice of Rogan
Bill Maher wants to be liked too much.
They sold 2,000 of them. Not stated in the article is at how much of a loss per unit sold.
They were building their social credit score with Comrade Joe.
Cheaper to crush ‘em.
I knew a guy in Houston who was part of a research group of leasees who had one and had to keep a log of where and how long he drove it. It was an interesting looking car anyways.
The Andre quip got a legit laugh.
Me too.
It’s the little, thoughtful things.
Lava Cake Stout? I have a hard time imagining how they thought this was going to work without a blob of hot liquid chocolate exploding out of a moist, delicate but ultimately not very sweet cake. Nothing about this was warm or explosive, but it wasn’t particularly sweet either. Delicate? Eh. The marketing fell short to the point where its all just bluster. Doesn’t make it bad though, as I rather liked it all the same. Chocolate Lava Cake Stout (Trader Joe’s): 4.1/5 8% ABV
I’d give it a try as a dessert beer.
they did not bring back the dire wolf.
I think they are pulling a leftist style squirm by now arguing ‘ok but functionally it’s the same.’
I am not sure why they are doing this. We have grey wolves.
Nevermind why,
Humans have to try everything, no matter the cost, twas ever so,
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere with a sign on it saying
“End-of-the-World Switch.
PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH},
the paint wouldn’t even have time to dry.
The Truth, (Sir)Terry Pratchett
I should have phrased that as “Yeah, but it looks like one.”
Which it doesnt.
Too Local News: He Thought This Was America edition:
A loaded gun was detected in a man’s carry-on bag at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, the Transportation Security Administration said.
TSA officers found the gun Wednesday morning during the screening process, the agency said.
If the Federation of Planets was serious about the Prime Directive, the first thing they would do is abolish Star Fleet.
But then, no show. Yet the plot hole still bothers me.
Well they still wanna discover shit and have sex with hot aliens.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/this-acura-nsx-just-sold-for-370000-and-what-do-you-even-say-anymore
That’s crazy.
But it will attract hot alien women
today I learned
***
The Haber-Bosch process was a chemical method used during World War II to produce nitrates. It allowed Germany to produce both guns and butter simultaneously, contributing to the war effort. The process involved converting saltpeter into nitric acid, which was a precursor to powerful explosives like nitroglycerine and dynamite.
***
I knew about the fertilizer part, but not the explosive part. Without the process, Germany could not have fought in WW1 as it had to import nitrates and thus was vulnerable to a blockade by the British and French.
***
Press Your Luck gained media attention in 1984 for the winnings of a contestant named Michael Larson. A self-described unemployed ice cream truck driver from Lebanon, Ohio, he applied to be on the show that year. By recording episodes at home on a videocassette recorder and playing them back frame-by-frame, Larson discovered that the presumed random patterns of the game board were not actually random and he was able to memorize the sequences.[11] On the single game in which he appeared, an initially tentative Larson spun a Whammy on his very first turn, but then went 45 consecutive spins without hitting another one.[11] The majority of his spins landed on the highest-valued spaces, which offered $3,000, $4,000, or $5,000, all with an extra spin. The game ran for so long that CBS aired the episode in two parts, on June 8 and 11, 1984. In the end, Larson earned a total of $110,237 in cash and prizes.[12]
After an investigation, CBS executives concluded that Larson’s memorization of the board patterns did not constitute cheating and allowed him to keep his winnings.
***
Smarter than the average bear…
I’d rather have an old NSX than new Ferrari. As the guy says, drive it.
I’d rather have $370,000 than a car. I already have the latter.
(2013 Chevy Malibu. No touchscreen or other flim-flammery. It *can* connect to Bluetooth, but I listen to the radio. I’m dreading my next vehicle purchase.)
The FAA Air Traffic Operations COO taking the early out just as heads roll for that shitshow crash…what a pussy