Boing Boing, January 29, 2025
All our posts from the past 24 hours
Greetings, Mutants! Today, we've got a terrifying video of a mermaid under fish attack in a public aquarium. We show you a massive sinkhole that swallowed a truck whole, trapping its driver inside! Martha Stewart unleashes her saucy side in a sizzling new ad, leaving her fans hungry for more. Greenland sends a resounding "meh" to joining the U.S. Other highlights include an e-bike balancing precariously on circus balls, Roseanne Barr rocking cornrows as a pro-Trump rapper, and the Doomsday clock ticking closer to midnight than ever. A MAGA Rep wants to chisel Trump's mug into Mount Rushmore. And Gavin Smythe's bug-eyed reality is shattered with Tom the Dancing Bug. We're reliving America's folk rock heyday with a British compilation and helping adorable critters cross the road with a newt brigade. Learn about a major fire on a passenger plane in South Korea and get a glimpse into the lives of Medieval lady statues who were not afraid to bare it all. Get ready to gnaw on the "chicken paw" and delve into a treasure trove of vintage gaming magazines. A Parkinson's patient finds solace in a new brain implant. Billionaire Nicole Shanahan's fiery video sends a clear message to GOP senators. Witness the thrilling nosedive of a U.S. fighter jet in Alaska and the groundbreaking Boom Supersonic XB-1 breaking the sound barrier. And for those who love their keyboards, we present Severance-style keycaps perfect for any data-driven adventure. Finally, scientists have achieved the extraordinary: creating mice with two fathers.
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Terrifying video of mermaid attacked by fish in public aquarium
Allan Rose Hill / 11:44 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
A mermaid happily entertaining visitors at a theme park aquarium was brutally attacked by a large fish. The animal bit her face before swallowing her goggles and noseclip. Why would a mermaid need a noseclip? Because she isn't a real mermaid. Video below.
Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park reportedly paid the woman £78 in "moral damages" and then allegedly tried to "cover up" the incident. The woman is from Russia and, according to The Sun, Russian media outlets are reporting that she was sent back into the water shortly after the attack.
Apparently, the fish was likely a sturgeon which can be as long as 23 feet and have been known to attack people and other animals.
Video of massive sinkhole that devoured huge truck, trapping driver inside
Allan Rose Hill / 10:59 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
In Japan's Yashio City, a swimming pool-sized sinkhole suddenly opened at an intersection, devouring a big rig. The 74-year-old driver's condition is unknown.
According to local officials, the collapse was likely caused by a broken sewage pipe. Another smaller hole opened nearby later, eating a billboard and utility pole.
Rescue teams use a crane to pull up the body of the truck but the cab is jammed inside and the hole has filled with water. The driver's condition is unknown but the emergency operation continues to find him.
"Workers plan to drain the water before trying to search for the trapped driver," reports NHK.
Martha Stewart gets "in the nude" in titillating new MAC ad, and her fans eat it up (video)
Carla Sinclair / 10:29 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
Martha Stewart is a tease as she gets "in the nude," and wow, she wears it well.
While slurping up a strawberry, dripping honey, sniffing her lipstick, and sampling other luscious delectables, Martha Stewart gets down and flirty for a new MAC makeup ad. And, as she whispers into the camera wearing a nude robe to match her nude makeup, it's easy to forget that the coy 83-year-old powerhouse is, well, 83. (See video, posted by Mike Sington.)
Needless to say, her fans are eating it up. "Thirst trap Martha is my favorite Martha," said one commenter on MAC's Instagram, where the ad was first posted, while another joked, "Now we're all pregnant."
Some of the other fanatical comments include, "This is the only f*cking good thing I've seen all day;" "This is the most iconic video I've ever seen;" "The way I gasped at the honey scene…;" and "Martha…this is amazing. You are the greatest. PERIOD!" And, while there's plenty more where these came from, almost every commenter seems to agree: "I love you, Martha!!!"
Previously:
• At 81, Martha Stewart becomes oldest woman to grace cover of 'Sports Illustrated' swimsuit issue
• Mark on The Martha Stewart Show, May 18, 2009
Only 6% of Greenlanders want to join the U.S.
Rob Beschizza / 9:14 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
Donald Trump wants the U.S. to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The island lies in a strategic spot in the North Atlantic and has a wealth of untapped minerals under its retreating glaciers. Denmark says it's not for sale at any price; Trump has implied he might take it by force. Of the people living there, many want independence from Denmark, but very few want to become American: only 6 percent want to become a U.S. territory, with 86% opposing the idea and 9% undecided.
The poll showed that 45% viewed Trump's interest in Greenland as a threat, with 43% saying they see it as an opportunity, leaving 13% undecided. Greenland enjoys many of the same welfare benefits as Denmark such as universal healthcare and free education. Only 8% of those polled said they would be willing to change their Danish citizenship to American, 55% said they would prefer to be Danish citizens, and 37% were undecided.
This poll follows one from a GOP-affiliated push pollster which found a majority for joining the U.S.
Note that Trump's belligerent posturing has hurt Greenland's independence movement; in 2019 nearly 7 in 10 Greenlanders wanted to be independent from Denmark. But now it is the devil they know.
E-bike balances on circus balls
Gail Sherman / 5:07 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
James Bruton is a YouTuber and Maker extraordinaire. He has made an open-source robot dog, a rideable AT-AT, and a life-sized GNK (Gonk) droid. For his latest project, Bruton has created a self-balancing, omnidirectional bicycle using 3D-printed and machined parts, bungee cords, and circus act supplies.
The "wheels" are giant, hollow plastic balls called "walking globes" or "rolling globes," designed to be filled with sand and used by circus performers. The bike is powered by five small, brushless motors: two on each ball at a 120º angle and one on the rear ball for moving forward or backward.
Steering is controlled by the handlebars, but not in the way a standard bike does. The left-hand grip turns the bike left or right, while the right-hand grip controls forward and backward movement. A mounted panel has engine start and emergency stop buttons and yaw and gain controls. It's unclear how practical this design is, as the wheels pop off at high velocity. Of course, practicality isn't the point anyway, but the bike has a headlamp, a horn, and side-view mirrors for safety.
Roseanne Barr dons cornrows, becomes pro-Trump rapper
Grant St. Clair / 5:01 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
At what point does comedy become horror? If Roseanne Barr had not already crossed that threshold, she surely has now. The comedian-turned-bootlicker has pulled a Ben Shapiro, teaming up with noted conservative rapper Tom MacDonald to release a rap song that can be best described as an exercise in crotch-grabbing smugness that's been Autotuned to hell and back. As expected from a 72-year-old white woman, Roseanne's barrs are absolutely atrocious – every time she refers to Trump as Daddy, the stomach turns.
Of note, Tom MacDonald is Canadian, meaning Daddy isn't even coming to his home. For the good of American politics and rap music alike, maybe he should go back to British Columbia.
Doomsday clock is now closer to midnight than it's ever been
Grant St. Clair / 4:54 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
I was surprised to hear that the Doomsday Clock isn't just a storytelling device Alan Moore made up for Watchmen. The real-life Doomsday Clock is a representation of how close humanity is to global catastrophe, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists – people who know what they're talking about. The conceit: when the clock strikes midnight, we're all dead. This means moving it forward is a bad thing, and yesterday the clock grew the closest to midnight it's been since it was established in 1947: 89 seconds to midnight. This is probably a bad thing.
The clock had stood at 90 seconds to midnight for the past two years and "when you are at this precipice, the one thing you don't want to do is take a step forward," said Daniel Holz, chair of the group's science and security board.
The group said it's concerned about cooperation between countries such as North Korea, Russia and China in developing nuclear programs. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also talked about using nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine.
"A lot of the rhetoric is very disturbing," Holz said. "There is this growing sense that … some nation might end up using nuclear weapons, and that's terrifying."
Granted, it's not hard to see why scientists may think we're in a bit of a bad place right now. While climate change is a factor the Bulletin considers, as their name implies, they're growing increasingly nervous about the potential for nuclear exchanges – more so given who now sits in the White House. While some have written this gesture off as purely performative, there's no denying that it represents the very real anxieties facing America and the world at large at the moment.
MAGA Rep introduces bill to carve Trump's face into Mount Rushmore
Ellsworth Toohey / 4:53 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
In a valuable use of Congressional time, Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna introduced a bill to chisel Donald Trump's likeness onto Mount Rushmore, alongside lesser past U.S. Presidents like Lincoln and Jefferson.
The lack of Trump's face on the monument has been the number one problem to solve in America. Luna dropped urgent legislation on Tuesday with the rallying cry "Let's get carving!"
"I've officially introduced legislation to put President Trump's face on Mount Rushmore," Luna posted on X. "His remarkable accomplishments for our country and the success he will continue to deliver deserve the highest recognition."
The bill comes hot on the heels of other bills introduced to pay fealty to the greatest man on Earth. Just last week, North Carolina Rep. Addison McDowell tried to rename Dulles Airport after Trump, while Tennessee's Andy Ogles went for broke with a bill to let Trump run for a third term.
Even Trump himself seemed surprised by the Mount Rushmore enthusiasm. Back in 2020, when reports surfaced that his team had inquired about adding presidents to the monument, he called it "Fake News" — though he couldn't resist adding that it "sounds like a good idea to me!"
Tom the Dancing Bug: Gavin Smythe, of Chagrin Falls, USA, won't believe his lying eyes
Ruben Bolling / 4:51 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
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British compilation relives America's 1960s folk rock boom
Bob Knetzger / 4:49 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
Sometimes it takes a foreign source to represent your own music back to you… I'm looking forward to this new compilation of groovy American 1960s folk rock recordings, brought to you by a British label.
"A new collection celebrating the U.S. folk-rock movement is coming from the U.K.'s Cherry Red Records. Jingle Jangle Morning: The 1960s Folk-Rock Explosion arrives on March 21, 2025, with 74 tracks across three CDs from the company's Strawberry imprint..
The collection features recordings from such stars as Bob Dylan, the Byrds (whose recording of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" includes the lyric in which this title is named), the Lovin' Spoonful, the Mamas & the Papas, Buffalo Springfield, and Linda Ronstadt.
The label's announcement describes it as "the most thorough compilation that has ever been assembled of a major movement that transformed popular music, including hits, rarities, and deep cuts from a huge spectrum of artists"."
Newt brigade helps adorable critters cross the road safely
Gail Sherman / 4:43 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
In the fall of every year, migrating newts cross Chileno Valley Road in Sonoma County, California. Newts are making their way from the lake, where they began their lives as tadpoles, to the forest, where they will spend the next five years. When it's time to breed, the newts head back across the road in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, newts are slow, and many don't make it. The fantastically named Chileno Valley Newt Brigade is trying to save as many adorable amphibians as possible. The all-volunteer force heads out in the evening with flashlights and walkie-talkies. [via NPR]
Volunteers photograph the newts and other amphibians, note the species, the date and time, and the direction the animal is going. The volunteer carries the animal across the road in the same direction it was traveling and places it on the road shoulder in the County right-of-way. Volunteers typically work from 5 to 8 pm. On "Big Nights", they will stay longer.
The organization is seeking funding to research a more permanent solution to help migrating amphibians cross the road safely. Some possible options are improving existing culverts or creating a tunnel specifically for them. Other than a small grant, the Brigade is funded by its volunteers. Donations to the Brigade assist with their work and fund research.
Major fire on passenger plane in South Korea forces 176 people to evacuate flight (video)
Carla Sinclair / 4:39 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
A plane carrying 176 people caught fire right before taking off from a South Korean airport Tuesday night, forcing all passengers to evacuate. Stunning footage shows the entire top of the Air Busan plane charred as firefighters work to extinguish the fire. (See video, posted by AP News.)
The flight, headed to Hong Kong, was still on the ground at the Gimhae International Airport in Busan when its "rear parts" caught fire, reports AP News. The cause of the fire — which took around one hour to put out — isn't immediately clear.
Everyone on board — including 169 passengers, six crew members, and an engineer — used the plane's emergency slide to safely evacuate the plane, with three people suffering "minor injuries."
Previously:
• IndiGo plane catches fire during takeoff, footage caught by passenger (video)
• Boeing 747 cargo jet catches fire as it flies over Miami — "Oh my God!" says stunned witness (video)
• Not again! Another Boeing plane catches fire — makes emergency landing in Indonesia (video)
These Medieval church ladies really let it all hang out
Ellsworth Toohey / 4:11 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
All those supposedly pious medieval churches, might not have been as uptight as we imagine. Hundreds of explicit stone carvings showing naked women flashing their bits are scattered across European buildings. Old-timey peasants heading to church would walk under doorways with stone carvings of a women enthusiastically displaying her lady parts. These saucy ladies, known as sheela na gigs, are most common in Ireland, where over 120 of them have been caught in the act of their anatomical show-and-tell.
"The greatest concentrations can be found in Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain, sometimes together with male figures," explains Barbara Freitag in her book Sheela-na-gigs: Unravelling an Enigma. Nobody's quite sure why they're called sheela na gigs — it might come from Irish for "Julia of the breasts" or old English slang for, well, you can probably guess.
From the book's introduction:
An air of mystery has surrounded the crude carvings of naked females, called Sheela-na-gigs, since their scholarly discovery some one hundred and sixty years ago. Especially puzzling is the fact that they occur predominantly in medieval religious buildings. High-minded clergymen have since defaced or destroyed many of these carvings, and for a long time archaeologists dismissed them as rude and repulsive
Modern feminist scholars are particularly into these ancient flashers. As Georgia Rhoades puts it, these figures represent "a message about her body, its power and significance — a gesture of rebellion against misogyny." In other words, medieval women were fighting the patriarchy before it was cool.
Oddly, these provocative figures show up most often in areas controlled by Anglo-Normans, whose laws were particularly harsh on women compared to the previous Anglo-Saxon laws. So either those Normans weren't as prudish as we thought, or something more interesting was happening in medieval church architecture than anyone's willing to admit. Nearly a thousand years later, scholars are still trying to figure out exactly what these ladies were up to.
Everybody's doing the "chicken paw gnaw"
Jennifer Sandlin / 4:09 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
Every night before they go to sleep, my dogs Henry Rollins and Jaxon Pawlick do what we have come to affectionately call the "chicken paw gnaw" – that is, they take a couple of minutes to lick and clean and gently gnaw on their paws, which seems to both clean their paws and help them to relax as they drift off to sleep.
It appears baby kangaroos also love to do the chicken paw gnaw before they go to sleep! Look at these adorable 'roos performing their "pouchtime" routine, which includes the most ridiculously cute rendition of the chicken paw gnaw I've ever seen. First they have a bottle of milk for dinner, then they wash their paws, and then they're off to dreamland. I can't stop watching them lick their little paws, it's just too darn cute!
These kanga cuties live at the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs, Central Australia, a rescue center that specializes in caring for orphaned baby kangaroos until they are ready to be released into the wild.
I searched for some information about paw-licking activity while writing this post and was happy to find out that, according to the almost hilariously appropriately-titled website "Paw Safe" (which is focused on dogs but hopefully also applies to other animals), this licking activity—if it only lasts a minute or two—is routine grooming and relaxation behavior:
the action of licking releases the same hormones that made them feel safe and loved as puppies when their mother licked them. It is also a standard part of doggy self-care to clean and soothe themselves by licking.
Paw Safe also explains that if the licking is prolonged, obsessive, or excessive, it can signal something wrong in your dog—nail or paw pad issues, injuries, itchiness caused by allergies, pain or discomfort, anxiety and stress, or boredom and frustration.
I'm happy to say that the chicken paw gnawing of my own doggos—and probably the baby roos, too—seems perfectly normal. Happy gnawing, y'all!
To see more of the adorable animals at the Kangaroo Sanctuary, check out their website or follow them on Instagram!
Video Game History Foundation to release scans of 1,500 vintage gaming magazines
Ellsworth Toohey / 3:38 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
When Future Publishing's game magazines were shredded in the 1990s, no one thought twice about destroying what would become invaluable historical documents. Now, remaining copies of these defunct gaming periodicals are commanding premium prices on eBay and being digitally preserved by archivists who recognize them as irreplaceable windows into gaming's cultural evolution. The Video Game History Foundation is spearheading this preservation effort, launching a digital archive of 1,500 out-of-print gaming magazines on January 30.
These vintage publications do more than just trigger nostalgia — they provide a unique window into how the gaming industry evolved. Before the internet, magazines like Crash, Mega, and GamesMaster were the only connection between gamers and the industry, serving as vital sources of news, reviews, and community discussion through their letters pages.
"Video game magazines are often representative of people's relationships to video games – they accompany that journey," explains John O'Shea, creative director of the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield, as quoted in The Guardian. The magazines capture not just what games were popular, but also reveal telling cultural blind spots — like the fact that in 2011 PC gaming magazines featured as many panda protagonists as female ones.
These periodicals also challenge the notion that successful gaming platforms were obviously destined for greatness. Contemporary coverage of now-iconic consoles like the PlayStation and Nintendo Wii shows considerable uncertainty about their prospects at launch. As O'Shea notes, "Video game magazines provide a lot of resistance to that very linear idea of history."
The VGHF's digital archive will be fully searchable, allowing researchers and enthusiasts to track the first mentions of influential games, developers, and gaming concepts. As VGHF librarian Phil Salvador explains in the article: "We wanted to make something that's going to be useful and easy for anyone studying video game history, whether you're an academic writing a book or a creator making a YouTube video, or you're just a curious person."
New brain implant lets Parkinson's patient forget symptoms
Ellsworth Toohey / 3:14 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
A brain implant has allowed a Parkinson's patient to "forget about" his debilitating condition for days at a time. Kevin Hill, a 65-year-old from Sunderland, received a computer-controlled device in his chest wall, connected to wires that run into his brain. The system delivers precision electrical signals to manage his symptoms, and thanks to a recent upgrade, it can now automatically read and respond to his brain activity in real time.
The impact was immediate and dramatic. "I forget about Parkinson's for days and days and days," Hill told the BBC. Before the implant, his symptoms were so severe his wife banned him from the kitchen – his hand tremors caused him to spill hot drinks and even led to a finger injury. When doctors activated the device after surgery, his tremors "stopped instantly," reducing Hill to tears of joy.
The technology, called adaptive deep brain stimulation (DBS), represents a major advancement over traditional treatments. Dr. Akbar Hussain, a neurosurgeon at Newcastle Hospitals and one of the first doctors worldwide to offer this Brainsense treatment, explains: "The electrical impulses provided to the brain by the device are controlled and adjusted automatically, according to individual patient's recordings from the device in their chest."
"While evidence is still being gathered to assess the benefits of adaptive DBS versus the standard type, it's great to see movement towards this becoming a new, more effective treatment for people with Parkinson's," says Dr. Becky Jones from Parkinson's UK, highlighting the technology's promise for the 153,000 UK residents living with the condition.
"The biological signals generated within the person themselves are enough to alter the treatment given by the implant," Dr. Hussain notes. "These changes could be taking place by the minute or hour, meaning the treatment is truly responsive to the exact needs of each individual."
Billionaire Nicole Shanahan threatens GOP senators by name: vote for RFK Jr. or "I won't play nice" (video)
Carla Sinclair / 3:00 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
In true MAGA fashion, billionaire Nicole Shanahan threatens a long list of senators — including Republicans — who do not vote to confirm the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
"The two candidates I helped elect, Senator Raphael Warnock and Senator Jon Ossoff, please know I will be watching your votes very closely," said Shanahan — RFK Jr.'s former running mate — referring to today's confirmation hearing, followed by a vote. "I will make it my personal mission that you lose your seats in the Senate if you vote against the future health of America's children."
The Silicon Valley attorney then called out other senators — as well as Lisa "Markovsky," whoever that is — telling them to step in line and vote for the anti-science Trump-pick, because if not, she won't "play nice."
"And more than that, I also want to say to Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Marko[w]sky, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, James Lankford, Cory Booker, John Fetterman, Bernie Sanders, and Catherine Cortez Masto: This is a bipartisan message and it comes directly from me," continued the new sheriff in town, before fleshing out her threat.
"While Bobby may be willing to play nice, I won't," warned Shanahan. "If you vote against him, I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election, and I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me." (See video.)
Welcome to American "democracy" in MAGAland.
Via Mediaite
Previously: Nicole Shanahan was not horsing around with Elon Musk
Watch: U.S. fighter jet nosedives in Alaska, exploding into flames (pilot survives!)
Carla Sinclair / 1:37 am PT Wed Jan 29, 2025
A U.S. Air Force pilot was flying an F-35 fighter jet in Alaska as part of a training exercise when the plane malfunctioned. Dramatic footage shows the jet nosediving at Eielson Air Force Base before crashing to the ground, exploding into an ball of flames. (See video, posted by Sky News Australia.)
The pilot had "declared an inflight emergency prior to the crash," according to AP News. Fortunately, he survived after he was ejected from the single-seat aircraft and is now in stable condition.
Previously: Fighter jet passenger, 64, accidentally ejects during ride that was a surprise "gift"
Boom Supersonic XB-1 breaks the sound barrier
Rob Beschizza / 4:47 pm PT Tue Jan 28, 2025
I always wanted to fly on the Concorde and never got a chance. Today, the XB-1 made the first commercial supersonic flight since the legendary Anglo-French jet last hit Mach 1—and the first ever for a privately-built civil aircraft (at least intentionally). It broke the sound barrier twice over the Mojave desert, first for four minutes and secondly for several seconds, to "capture more data."
The successful first supersonic flight of Boom's demonstrator aircraft, XB-1, took place on January 28 2025 at the Mojave Air & Space Port in California. Boom designed, built, and flew the world's first independently developed supersonic jet—the first civil supersonic jet made in America.
Flown by Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg, XB-1 entered the supersonic corridor and reached an altitude of 35,290 feet before accelerating to Mach 1.122 (652 KTAS or 750 mph)—breaking the sound barrier for the first time. Historically, supersonic aircraft have been the work of nation states, developed by militaries and governments. XB-1's supersonic flight marks the first time an independently developed jet has broken the sound barrier.
Nicknamed "Baby Boom," the demonstrator model is a third of the size of the planned commercial passenger jet. The Boom Overture will be very similar in size and shape to the Concorde, but fifty years brings two significant advantages. They don't have to invent everything from scratch, and modern materials allow it to be less than half the weight—critically important for economic viability.
1.
Severance-style keycaps fit for some macrodata refinement
Rob Beschizza / 2:27 pm PT Tue Jan 28, 2025
Transfixed by the retro desktop computers seen in Severance? Want something just like it? They were based on the Data General Dasher 2, but the real thing is rare and ancient and it would be sacrilegeous to do anything hacky with any part of one. Thankfully, you can buy a set of keycaps based on those seen in the show, SA Macrodata Refinement. Praise Kier! And Signature Plastics.
For the last four decades, we've been crafting the iconic SA profile keycaps in Custer, Washington. The high profile and sculptured top is synonymous with many iconic terminals including Data General "Dasher" which inspired the prop designers of the TV show Severance. It seemed only fitting that we'd make the authentic SA profile keycaps for their workstations. They understood that nothing else would capture that perfect blend of corporate authority and timeless computing aesthetic. No long group buy wait times, no mysterious delays – just pure, refined SA profile goodness ready to transform your workspace into something extraordinary
There's a $30 scary numbers mat to go with them, too. An appropriately huge-bezeled keyboard to slap these caps on might be hard to procure, though. The Piggy and the S7 Elephant are perfect, but good luck finding one. Vortex's M0110 has the retro look and is in stock, but the vintage is clearly "Apple" rather than "vintage terminal." A blue Nuphy Halo might work, but for the contemporary details; the blue Keychron Q7 is perhaps not the right blue.
Jesus that's a lot of mechanical keyboards:
• Review: Filco Minila Air wireless mechanical keyboard
• Going back to a mechanical keyboard turned me into a butterfingered idiot
• The dark truth about mechanical keyboards and gaming
• This budget hot swappable mechanical keyboard works great with my Mac
• Is it worth disassembling and repainting a vintage iMac to match this amazingly yellow mechanical keyboard?
• Logitech brings low-profile mechanical keyboards to the masses
• Finally, a low-profile 40% wireless mechanical keyboard
Scientists create mice with two fathers
Allan Rose Hill / 12:59 pm PT Tue Jan 28, 2025
Researchers at Beijing's Chinese Academy of Sciences have used the gene-editing technology CRISPR to create mice from two fathers. CRISPR is a powerful genetic editing tool that allows scientists to precisely modify DNA by cutting and replacing specific genetic sequences. Its applications range from treating genetic disorders, developing more-resilient crops, and may lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases.
Eventually, gene jockey Zhi-Kun Li and colleagues hope to try the technique on primates—although not humans. (Not yet, anyway.)
From MIT Technology Review:
To start, the team cultured cells with sperm DNA to collect stem cells in the lab. Then they used CRISPR to disrupt the 20 imprinted genes they were targeting.
These gene-edited cells were then injected, along with other sperm cells, into egg cells that had had their own nuclei removed. The result was embryonic cells with DNA from two male mice. These cells were then injected into a type of "embryo shell" used in research, which provides the cells required to make a placenta. The resulting embryos were transferred to the uteruses of female mice.
Out of more than 164 "bi paternal embryos" that were transferred, only seven were born alive. While they did survive to adulthood, they weren't particularly healthy though. They had enlarged organs, shorter lifespans than regular mice, and were unable to reproduce.
This kind of gene editing in humans "would not be acceptable," Li says, "and producing individuals who could not be healthy or viable is simply not an option."