Khaleesi’s Back | Space Soup | Mappy Mouse

Welcome to the 200th issue party, I’m glad you could make it!

Quick hits on what I’ve learned in 200 straight Saturdays of sharing science 🤯 

Real quick: I put a lot of work into this newsletter and it would mean the world to me if you could share this with a friend. Plus, I’m pretty sure they’ll love it!

—Steve 🎉

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Khaleesi’s Back

Dire wolves are back from the dead, sort of. Colossal Biosciences created 3 near-replicas of the extinct canines.

• Dire wolf extinction: ~13k years ago

• Mapped genome using preserved DNA

• Edited gray wolf genes using CRISPR

Domestic dogs were used as surrogates for the adorable Khaleesi, Romulus, and Remus pups. Colossal continues to push the boundaries, scientific and ethical, in hopes of re-introducing more extinct species (i.e. woolly mammoths) to our zoos planet. My Jurassic senses are tingling.

They are pretty adorable though (YouTube)

Space Soup

The future of premium ramen: miso made in space. Researchers found major flavor changes to miso fermented on the ISS.

• Space-miso had altered levels of amino and organic acids

• Orbital conditions slowed some fermentation

• Boosting umami flavors

Chemical profiles showed unique compounds compared to earth-grown samples. Besides bolstering astronaut menu options, the study could lead to a variety of space-grown food samplings. I hear the flavor is out of this world!

Eating ramen in space is hard

Mappy Mouse

Finally, we have a map for exploring mouse brains. Scientists zoomed in on 1mm³ of brain tissue to chart visual processing networks.

• 400k brain cells

• Over 500 million synaptic connections

• Surprising loops and neural detours

The map shows visual information flowing from eyes to brain, helping decode how mammals see the world. The open-source map enables anyone with a knack for mazes, or brains, to join the quest for better understanding mammalian minds.

Pro tip: be the second mouse

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Unnatural Selection

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Fortunately for all of us, sushirritos exist!

st3v on site

Party Glasses

Among many benefits to having three eyes, st3v gets to wear a monocle AND glasses! (w/ no nose, no one knows how)

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