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If it’s raining, pretend you’re a duck. They seem to find the perfect puddles to enjoy until the skies clear up.
quack quack
—Steve 🌧️🦆
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Snake Man
Snake bites don’t grant superpowers, but they could save lives. One man’s quest to build immunity is leading to new antivenoms.
Enthusiast intentionally bitten by venomous snakes 800+ times
Developed broad resistance to multiple venoms
Scientists studied his blood to develop antivenom
Keying in on the specific antibodies snake-man developed generated multi-species antivenoms that replace region-specific alternatives. A development that could save thousands of lives in remote areas. Sssssweet ssssuccesssss.
Hmm…Which bite-caused super powers are cooler? |
Check out last week’s results in “Unnatural Selection” below
GenEdited Baby
CRISPR-based therapy successfully treated an infant with a rare genetic condition. Marking the first successful individual CRISPR treatment.
CRISPR = Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats
Condition: CPS1 deficiency, prevents nitrogen breakdown
Treatment developed in just 6 months
Treatment was delivered to the liver via lipid nanoparticles and the infant quickly showed improved weight gain and reduced medical needs. A breakthrough that paves the way for future personalized CRISPR therapies.
Spineless Assassin
Assassins don’t need backbones. Scientists observed preparation from assassin bugs (Pahabengkakia piliceps) beyond what invertebrates were assumed capable of.
Assassin bugs tailor their hunting to specific prey
One species coats legs in sticky resin to catch ants
Another intentionally trips hive security to lure out bees
Further research into assassin bug variations will identify other killing schemes and could offer a simpler path to studying the evolution of tool-use without the ethical complications of vertebrate studies. Can’t wait for the John Wick spinoff!
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Unnatural Selection
Last week: “Would you use performance-enhancing googly eyes?”
Fun fact: You can make their eyes go all googly by shaking your phone!
Of course, with the whole phone shaking about, it’s impossible to verify just how googly things get. 😜
Make sure you vote up top for next week’s “Unnatural Selection”!
st3v on site
hatGPT
Despite its constant objections, st3v still believes the sorting hat is an AI chatbot. After all, science is just explaining what was perviously thought to be magic.
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