But in Communist Russia, Mammoth finds you!

Quote :

"MOSCOW (Reuters) - The discovery of a baby mammoth preserved in the Russian permafrost gives researchers their best chance yet to build a genetic map of a species extinct since the Ice Age, a Russian scientist said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT "It's a lovely little baby mammoth indeed, found in perfect condition," said Alexei Tikhonov, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Science's Zoological Institute, which has been taking care of the mammoth since it was uncovered in May. "This specimen may provide unique material allowing us to ultimately decipher the genetic makeup of the mammoth," he told Reuters by telephone. The mammoth, a female who died at the age of six months, was named "Lyuba" after the wife of reindeer breeder and hunter Yuri Khudi who found her in Russia's Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk region. She had been lying in the frozen ground for up to 40,000 years, said Tikhonov. The hunter initially thought the mammoth was a dead reindeer when he spotted parts of her body sticking out of damp snow. When he realized it was a mammoth, scientists were called in and transported the body to regional capital Salekhard, where she is now being kept in a special refrigerator. TREASURE TROVE FOR SCIENTISTS Weighing 50 kg (110 lb), and measuring 85 centimeters high and 130 centimeters from trunk to tail, Lyuba is roughly the same size as a large dog. Tikhonov said the fact the mammoth was so remarkably well-preserved -- its shaggy coat was gone but otherwise it looked as though it had only recently died -- meant it was a potential treasure trove for scientists. "Such a unique skin condition protects all the internal organs from modern microbes and micro-organisms ... In terms of its future genetic, molecular and microbiological studies, this is just an unprecedented specimen." But Tikhonov dismissed suggestions the mammoth could be cloned and used to breed a live mammoth. Cloning can only be done if whole cells are intact, but the freezing conditions will have caused the cells to burst, he Tikhonov. Tikhonov said the next stop on Lyuba's odyssey would be the Zoological Museum in Russia's second city of St Petersburg. There, Lyuba will join a male baby mammoth called Dima who was unearthed in Magadan in Russia's Far East in 1977 and until now was Russia's best-known example of the species. "They will make a nice couple, both roughly aged 40,000 years," Tikhonov said. From St Petersburg, Lyuba will go to Jikei University in Japan to undergo three-dimensional computer mapping of her body. The mammoth will then return to St Petersburg for an autopsy before being put on display in Salekhard."

7/11/2007 12:20:53 PM

dude on the left is like "lemme check if it's still breathing"

7/11/2007 12:21:34 PM

dude on the right is like, "Maybe we should try CPR? Do we blow in the trunk?"

7/11/2007 12:23:15 PM

the dude of the left is like "the keg is half empty, get up!"

7/11/2007 12:24:01 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=480438

7/11/2007 12:29:44 PM

i wonder what that thing would taste like

7/11/2007 12:39:35 PM

/\
Freezer Burn

7/11/2007 12:46:09 PM

dude in the middle is like get me off this table

7/11/2007 12:47:20 PM

they should try to resuscitate it.

7/11/2007 12:49:39 PM

if only there were a liquid to warm you up from 40,000 years of permafrost. i know DAT 190% ALCOHOL DRANK!!!

7/11/2007 12:54:50 PM

that elephant would be wakin up with a hangover

7/11/2007 1:05:30 PM

true that. babies probably shouldnt have dat 190% alcohol drank.

[Edited on July 11, 2007 at 1:07 PM. Reason : still a cool find though (be better if they did discover more of dat drank, but whatever)]

7/11/2007 1:07:29 PM

but you know how they roll in russia... they drink nothing less than 99% pure isopropyl.

7/11/2007 1:11:12 PM

the dude of the left is like "Do we have a microwave big enough to defrost this?"

7/11/2007 1:17:03 PM

Wasn't this mammoth found like in 2002? Isn't this a bit old news? Maybe not 40,000 year old news but it is old news.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0408_050408_woollymammoth.html

7/11/2007 1:17:11 PM

not unless that thing SHRANK:

7/11/2007 1:26:37 PM

how in the hell did they use those tusks? Looks like more of a pain than useful...

Maybe it was a show of badassery... kind of like My Super Sweet Sixteen.

7/11/2007 1:27:25 PM

Quote :

"if only there were a liquid to warm you up from 40,000 years of permafrost. i know DAT 190% ALCOHOL DRANK!!!"

Dude...I just lol'd for real.

7/11/2007 2:18:39 PM

Obviously its a lie.

The earth is only 6000 years old.

7/11/2007 2:24:57 PM

It is so cute... but dead



********************************************


But today's find is even more awesome, at least for me:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/07/27/tusk_arc.html

Holy Mastodon! Giant Tusks Unearthed

Quote :

"One of the tusks measured 16-feet-4-inches long and the other was more than 15 feet long, the research team said. They were found with the animal's upper and lower jaws — still bearing teeth — and leg bones, said Evangelia Tsoukala, an assistant professor of geology at the University of Thessaloniki, who led the team that excavated the site."

But here is what would have been awesome to look at:

Quote :

"This animal was in its prime. It was 25 to 30 years old; they lived until about 55. It was about 11 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder, and weighed around six tons," Tsoukala said."

Imagine those tusks on an animal that small, relatively speaking!

7/27/2007 1:06:05 PM

damn thats cool....

7/27/2007 1:09:43 PM

maybe they could do some jurassic park stuff to it.

7/27/2007 1:51:54 PM

It would be awesome if they found a way to clone the thing.

7/27/2007 2:20:19 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Shift_%28novel%29 anyone?

7/30/2007 9:12:31 PM

clone these motherfuckers

7/30/2007 10:58:51 PM

you can't see any hair almost looks like an elephant minus the giant ears.

7/31/2007 12:15:13 AM