Meanwhile in science news.

[Malamute]

You know that they're going to extract DNA and then things may get interesting.

The instant I saw it I thought "OOH OOH, can they extract DNA from that get get us pups?"

[blues]

The instant I saw it I thought "OOH OOH, can they extract DNA from that get get us pups?"

Paraphrasing Roy Scheider...You're gonna need a bigger sidecar.

[Caballoflaco]

The instant I saw it I thought "OOH OOH, can they extract DNA from that get get us pups?"

There’s always that one guy; but on the gripping hand, I don’t know if giant man eating wolves would actually make 2020 noticeably worse.

[Malamute]

There’s always that one guy; but on the gripping hand, I don’t know if giant man eating wolves would actually make 2020 noticeably worse.

I was thinking more like big giant cuddly Malamute cross dogs that had exceptional intruder repellent value, besides being cool, because, ancient wolf-cross dog.

Ive seen many people walk close to my suburban or 4runner and suddenly realize a very large dog was looking at them from inches away and they jump in surprise. Not that the dog acted aggressively, its just most peoples reaction to large wolfy looking dogs that are intently looking at them. I generally dont worry much about my truck when the dog(s) are in it.

[peterb]

There’s got to be a use for this.....

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/...-slime/581002/

Typically, a hagfish will release less than a teaspoon of gunk from the 100 or so slime glands that line its flanks. And in less than half a second, that little amount will expand by 10,000 times—enough to fill a sizable bucket. Reach in, and every move of your hand will drag the water with it. “It doesn’t feel like much at first, as if a spider has built a web underwater,” says Douglas Fudge of Chapman University. But try to lift your hand out, and it’s as if the bucket’s contents are now attached to you.

The slime also “has a very strange sensation of not quite being there,” says Fudge. It consists of two main components—mucus and protein threads. The threads spread out and entangle one another, creating a fast-expanding net that traps both mucus and water. Astonishingly, to create a liter of slime, a hagfish has to release only 40 milligrams of mucus and protein—1,000 times less dry material than human saliva contains. That’s why the slime, though strong and elastic enough to coat a hand, feels so incorporeal.

The proteins threads that give the slime cohesion are incredible in their own right. Each is one-100th the width of a human hair, but can stretch for four to six inches. And within the slime glands, each thread is coiled like a ball of yarn within its own tiny cell—a feat akin to stuffing a kilometer of Christmas lights into a shoebox without a single knot or tangle. No one knows how the hagfish achieves this miracle of packaging, but Fudge just got a grant to test one idea. He thinks that the thread cells use their nuclei—the DNA-containing structures at their core—like a spindle, turning them to wind the growing protein threads into a single continuous loop.

[randyho]

There’s got to be a use for this.....

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/...-slime/581002/

Typically, a hagfish will release less than a teaspoon of gunk from the 100 or so slime glands that line its flanks. And in less than half a second, that little amount will expand by 10,000 times—enough to fill a sizable bucket. Reach in, and every move of your hand will drag the water with it. “It doesn’t feel like much at first, as if a spider has built a web underwater,” says Douglas Fudge of Chapman University. But try to lift your hand out, and it’s as if the bucket’s contents are now attached to you.

The slime also “has a very strange sensation of not quite being there,” says Fudge. It consists of two main components—mucus and protein threads. The threads spread out and entangle one another, creating a fast-expanding net that traps both mucus and water. Astonishingly, to create a liter of slime, a hagfish has to release only 40 milligrams of mucus and protein—1,000 times less dry material than human saliva contains. That’s why the slime, though strong and elastic enough to coat a hand, feels so incorporeal.

The proteins threads that give the slime cohesion are incredible in their own right. Each is one-100th the width of a human hair, but can stretch for four to six inches. And within the slime glands, each thread is coiled like a ball of yarn within its own tiny cell—a feat akin to stuffing a kilometer of Christmas lights into a shoebox without a single knot or tangle. No one knows how the hagfish achieves this miracle of packaging, but Fudge just got a grant to test one idea. He thinks that the thread cells use their nuclei—the DNA-containing structures at their core—like a spindle, turning them to wind the growing protein threads into a single continuous loop.

This, in part or its entirety, was uncalled for. #twitchingMess

[Caballoflaco]

I was thinking more like big giant cuddly Malamute cross dogs that had exceptional intruder repellent value, besides being cool, because, ancient wolf-cross dog.

Well sure, it always starts out as just wanting a cute pet. But I’ve seen the documentary film about how that ends up ruining Christmas for everybody

Eta: although after posting and thinking about it, once again it’s probably not that different than what we have going on in the country now... damnit

[wvincent]

The instant I saw it I thought "OOH OOH, can they extract DNA from that get get us pups?"

How did I know you would say that?

I pray they never unearth DNA from a Short Faced Bear, you would probably be the first to sign up to Foster Care a cub, LOL.

[Gun Mutt]

There’s always that one guy; but on the gripping hand, I don’t know if giant man eating wolves would actually make 2020 noticeably worse.

My first thought was that we should wait until at least 2021...

[Wondering Beard]

There’s got to be a use for this.....

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/...-slime/581002/

Typically, a hagfish will release less than a teaspoon of gunk from the 100 or so slime glands that line its flanks. And in less than half a second, that little amount will expand by 10,000 times—enough to fill a sizable bucket. Reach in, and every move of your hand will drag the water with it. “It doesn’t feel like much at first, as if a spider has built a web underwater,” says Douglas Fudge of Chapman University. But try to lift your hand out, and it’s as if the bucket’s contents are now attached to you.

The slime also “has a very strange sensation of not quite being there,” says Fudge. It consists of two main components—mucus and protein threads. The threads spread out and entangle one another, creating a fast-expanding net that traps both mucus and water. Astonishingly, to create a liter of slime, a hagfish has to release only 40 milligrams of mucus and protein—1,000 times less dry material than human saliva contains. That’s why the slime, though strong and elastic enough to coat a hand, feels so incorporeal.

The proteins threads that give the slime cohesion are incredible in their own right. Each is one-100th the width of a human hair, but can stretch for four to six inches. And within the slime glands, each thread is coiled like a ball of yarn within its own tiny cell—a feat akin to stuffing a kilometer of Christmas lights into a shoebox without a single knot or tangle. No one knows how the hagfish achieves this miracle of packaging, but Fudge just got a grant to test one idea. He thinks that the thread cells use their nuclei—the DNA-containing structures at their core—like a spindle, turning them to wind the growing protein threads into a single continuous loop.

Very cool, very creepy and made me think of this: