Some good news for the day: a primate species, thought extinct, has been rediscovered: the pygmy tarsier of Indonesia [link] Also, a previously unknown extinct New Zealand penguin species has been identified: [link]

Hmm, well it does seem that cloned animals have a higher rate of birth defects. Is that the basis of the argument?

Hmm, well it does seem that cloned animals have a higher rate of birth defects. Is that the basis of the argument?

I dunno - I'm half pulling this from the dark recesses of my brain, and half pulling it from my ass.

Or I might be off in those percentages.

ION, the violin is a good detector of stress for me. When I'm relaxed, I generally play OK. When I'm stressed, I make all sorts of mistakes. It's like some feedback machine, but with horrible screeching sounds....

Personally, I don't think there is. But I think some have argued that... I dunno - maybe it would come back not quite right, and thus suffer.

Possibly also that it would, in effect, be an introduced species in an ecosystem that is no longer adapted to its existence. (I'm still pro-reviving them. And thylacines, though frankly I'm not sure they could be reintroduced as a viable population, and quaggas, and so on and so forth.)

Possibly also that it would, in effect, be an introduced species in an ecosystem that is no longer adapted to its existence.

I sorta assumed they'd only end up in zoos - at least at first.

Dunno if that's the assumption of those who want to create them.

A beginner’s guide to ‘Twilight’

My favorite “Twilight”-related blog, the hilarious loves-it-and-hates-it-and-is-totally-obsessed-with-it “Cleoland,” at [link] (note to readers: adult discussion and language sometimes exists on this particular blog, so don’t say you weren’t warned), puts it this way: “Yeah, it’s like, Bella wants to be a vampire but she doesn’t want to be a vampire before she’s had sex as a human, and Edward doesn’t want her to be a vampire but he wants to get married, but Bella doesn’t want to get married unless she can be a vampire, but Edward won’t have sex with her until they get married, and then you put the fox and the grain in the boat and you leave the goose back on the riverbank.”

(I whitefonted to be safe, but I think it probably doesn't need it.)

Because the goose eats the grain and the fox eats the goose, right?

God, I want to know more about that movie. I'm scared I'll end up renting it.

I know the answer to the fox, the goose, and the grain!

OK, so it's a dumb thing to be proud of, but you get your jollies where you can.

My dear daughter has tickets for a midnight showing. I have already mocked her. If she was a bit older, I'd send her a flask to take with her.

Criminal Minds fans--those of you that like Reid, do you want to take care of him? And those of you that like Morgan, do you want him to take care of you?