Moa De-extinction
Join Justina on an epic adventure to discover what it takes to bring something back from extinction.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘What a lunatic': Jackie O admits to controversial bathroom act
Jackie 'O' Henderson has revealed she's very much guilty of 'bathroom camping', a phenomenon Gen Z is obsessed with. You might think going to the bathroom at a social event, lingering in the toilet and doing some doom scrolling on your phone doesn't have a name, but you'd be wrong. Gen Z loves to come up with names for everything, and in 2025, that is now called 'bathroom camping'. To be clear bathroom camping can also be something you do in your own home for comfort or if you're just desperate for privacy. Henderson explained on The Kylie and Jackie O Show that she does get 'overwhelmed' at social functions and takes solace in the loo. 'It becomes – when there's too many people I don't know, I get a bit overwhelmed,' she explained. The radio star's co-host, Sandilands, seemed genuinely puzzled by the idea of hanging out in a bathroom. 'So what? Are you worried about them looking at you?' he asked. 'No. It is a brain drain, like sometimes it becomes very draining for me,' she explained. That didn't seem to clear up any confusion for Sandilands who continued to pepper her with questions. 'So you can't handle being around normal people?' he asked. 'I can't handle being around a large group of people where I have to small talk a lot. I hate that,' she explained. 'So that becomes a brain drain. And so what I do is I go to the bathroom and I just sit there and have time out, and I just chill.' Sandilands remained baffled. 'What fun! You'd never forget to invite Jackie to a party,' he joked. Henderson kept trying to explain, saying sometimes in social situations she just needs 'alone time' for a little recharge, but Sandilands remained dubious. 'What a lunatic,' he mused. 'I thought that too. I thought I was a lunatic, but apparently this is quite the thing,' she argued. 'It now got a name for it. People do this. I'm not alone. It's called bathroom camping.' Henderson's not wrong it certainly is a very big thing. The phrase 'bathroom camping' has garnered over 10 million views on TikTok. People online are also divided on the act with a lot of people arguing it is 'rude' to do when you're out in public. 'Bathroom camping in public is crazy and inconsiderate,' one noted. 'I'm embarrassed by how selfish people from my generation are,' another said. 'Bathroom camping outside your house is so rude if there's one bathroom,' someone mused. On the other hand, others argue that it is perfectly okay to take time for yourself when you need to. 'Such a relatable concept! Sometimes, we all need a little escape to recharge and gather our thought,' one argued. 'It is one place we don't get bothered,' someone else pointed out. 'I used to lie on the bathroom floor for hours. It felt so peaceful and calming for some odd reasons,' another shared. 'People think I'm crazy but I swear any bathroom is my safe space,' someone else noted.
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- News.com.au
Common pilates act that everyone is guilty of doing at some point
An Aussie pilates instructor has called out an all too common exercise act that most of us are guilty of. Adelle Petropoulos, 30, teaches pilates full time and does four classes a week. After a recent class, the Melbourne woman took to TikTok to rant about something she sees in the studio all the time. 'If this ever happens in your pilates class, just stop moving. You've done your class, everyone's worked their little tushies off. The instructor's put on harmonious music,' she said. 'Find your quiet, still space — that is not instructions for you to get up, take your straps off and start cleaning your reformer.' She said all that can be heard throughout the quiet time at the end of the class are the sounds of cleaning spray and noisy personal items being bundled up. Ms Petropoulos advised people to either leave before the quiet music, or don't come to the class at all as it interrupts others who choose to stay. Speaking to Ms Petropoulos said as an instructor her job is to create the best 45-minute experience for every person in the room. 'When people start packing up before class ends, it disrupts that shared energy. It sends a message — intentionally or not — that the last few minutes don't matter, when in fact, they're often the most important: the wind-down, the breath work, the integration. Those moments are where the magic happens,' she told 'It's not just about etiquette, it's about respect — for the practice, the instructor, and most importantly, for the people around you who are still trying to be present. Everyone deserves that full experience.' She said she understood that most people didn't mean any harm by it, as they're just busy, but it can be incredibly 'disruptive' and 'pulls others out of the moment'. Ms Petropoulos said most people agreed with what she said in the social media rant. Another action, from her perspective, that causes similar issues is using your phone in class. She mentioned that most people come in with a great energy and respect for the space. 'Just a reminder that we're all human — no one's perfect! But if we can all stay present, support each other, and treat the space with care, it makes a huge difference. Pilates is about more than movement — it's a shared community lead experience, and when we all show up fully, the energy in the room becomes something really special,' Ms Petropoulos said. Simon Ngo, from Flow Athletic, described Ms Petropoulos' video as 'spot on and accurate'. He said while leaving during the cool down portion of the class at Flow Athletic, due to the relative intensity of the classes, is quite rare it seems to be a fairly common occurrence in pilates in general. 'I just feel like it's a 'what a shame' moment. It's as though you've gone to the effort of checking out the dessert menu but not ordered anything,' he said. 'Or more accurately, like you've ordered the dessert, it's arrived and you've decided to leave.' He said people should stick around for that part of the class, as it's part of it for a reason. 'If you don't start a class without a warm up, why would you not finish with a cool down,' he said. 'Otherwise, a class would have been advertised 5 mins shorter. Plus, your instructors probably would have gone above and beyond to plan these Zen closing out moments. 'As much as people are time poor and, rather because of it, these few minutes of slowing down and reconnecting with ourselves are the stress-buster and self-care everyone needs in these of world of being busy today.' He said in 2025, securing a spot in a pilates class almost rivals getting into the housing market so, if you land a spot, 'stay for the full experience'.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Colossal Biosciences wants to bring the moa back from extinction
Thomas and Ollie, both 15, turn to a classic 1990s sci-fi film as a point of reference when the topic of "de-extinction" is raised. "It just depends on the animal and what it can do to society, like a dinosaur — that would just not be a good thing," Thomas says. "[So] not the plot of Jurassic Park." "I think the plot of Jurassic Park would be cool," Ollie says. Marvee, 14, thinks "some things would go wrong". "I've watched Jurassic Park," she says. The film is also a conversation starter for academics such as Nic Rawlence from the University of Otago's palaeogenetics laboratory. "It's like that quote out of Jurassic Park from Malcolm … 'We were so busy thinking about whether we could, that we didn't stop to think about whether we should,'" he says. But discussions about bringing extinct animals back to life are no longer limited to the genre of science fiction. American biotech company Colossal Biosciences has recently announced plans to bring back a flightless bird from New Zealand that could grow as tall as 3.6 metres. The moa became extinct about 500 years ago due to hunting, habitat destruction and introduced predators. The company has also been working to resurrect the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger. In October last year Colossal Biosciences announced the birth of what it said were the first dire wolves to be born in more than 10,000 years. The moa project has generated excitement among followers, including director Peter Jackson, who has invested about $23 million into the project. "It has given me more enjoyment and satisfaction than any films ever have," he says. "It's uniquely a New Zealand bird, so it's something that we've always been very fascinated with." But what does it mean to "de-extinct" a species? "The process of de-extinction is that we extract DNA from ancient bones and we sequence that DNA and assemble ancient genomes," Colossal Biosciences chief science officer Beth Shapiro says. "To de-extinct the moa we are collecting DNA from all nine species of moa. "We'll be comparing the genome sequences to genomes of living birds to identify what it is that made moa unique,and using the tools of genome editing to make those changes in the DNA sequence of the living, close relatives." This definition of de-extinction is a point of contention. "De-extinction, in the strictest sense, is bringing back an animal that has been extinct, bringing it back to life," says Associate Professor Rawlence says. Dr Rawlence explains that high-quality DNA is needed for cloning to be successful. "The problem with extinct animals is that, for the most part, their DNA is really badly degraded," he says. "It's like you've taken that DNA, and you've put it in a wood-fired pizza oven at 500 degrees overnight and it comes out fragmented in shards, crumbs, dust, chemically modified." This degradation means ancient DNA is too damaged to clone. Dr Rawlence says the only way to create an animal that is similar to one that is extinct is to use genetic engineering. "So bringing back the dire wolf, you've created a genetically engineered grey wolf — you would do the same with emu and moa," he says. "A good analogy is if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. "What we have is we've got something that looks like a dire wolf, but we're not entirely sure it actually behaves like a dire wolf." Ollie worries about how the behaviour of genetically engineered animals could disrupt ecosystems. "[The moa] might not have the same behaviours as it had a long time ago," he says. "It could disrupt the food chain or it could kill other animals." Zoe, 16, agrees. "Why do we need the moa, kind of?" she asks. "It's like, what purpose does it have here? It could maybe endanger emus." Gabriel, 16, says he thinks de-extinction projects could take money away from other scientific research. "If they're just taking an emu and sort of like changing it to bring [the moa] back, I mean, what are we really going to gain from this?" he says. "I don't think it's very necessary. "There's no need to bring them [the moa] back and take money out of the science … budget as a whole." Dr Rawlence says public interest is often the key to securing investment in projects. "It's something to be said that it's easier to get funding from the private sector and celebrities to de-extinct an animal than it is to, say, genetically engineer one [an animal] so it can survive," he says. "The public aren't interested and want to hear about Jurassic Park and de-extincting animals." Dr Rawlence is opposed to de-extinction but believes the technology involved is important and should be developed to help save endangered animals. "You could use this technology to genetically engineer animals to be resistant to a disease, giving them the chance to evolve with climate change in a fast-changing world," he says. "Colossal scientists said we have a moral obligation to bring back these species and undo the sins of the past. "I'd say we need to learn from them, otherwise we're doomed to repeat them." Marvee and Zoe's feelings about the technology depend on its application. "I think it's a really good idea just helping the endangered animals at the moment, like polar bears or rhinos," Marvee says. "If it's used for commercial purposes … that'll cross the line, I reckon," Zoe says.
