Blowing minds is business as usual at your average TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference, and today in Long Beach, Calif., writer and Whole Earth Catalog editor Stewart Brand lit up imaginations with his presentation on “de-extinction.”
"De-extinction" advocate Stewart Brand: "Biotechnology is about to liberate conservation in a pretty spectacular way." #TED2013
— Discover Magazine (@DiscoverMag) February 27, 2013
Biotech is going to “liberate conservation”? Does that mean what we think it means? Pretty much.
I hear what Stewart Brand is saying. What I’m seeing is the potential for a Jurassic Park. Hmmm.. #TED2013 #TEDActive
— Stephen Collins ?????????? (@trib) February 27, 2013
No… This guy Stewart Brand is basically talking about making Jurassic Park a reality (if you'll allow me to sensationalize). #TED2013
— Defiance World (@DefianceWorld) February 27, 2013
Stewart Brand says we can clone extinct species…Jurassic Park 2013! #TED2013
— Cameron Russell (@CameronCRussell) February 27, 2013
Hello, Jurassic Park. MT @bupbin Stewart Brand talking about de-extinction: rebuilding extinct species thru selective backbreeding. #TED2013
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) February 27, 2013
"Don't mourn, organize." -Stewart Brand on bringing back extinct species. With their DNA. (Just please don't do it with dinosaurs.) #TED2013
— (((Rachel Sklar))) ❄️ (@rachelsklar) February 27, 2013
But dinosaurs are what we want! Groundbreaking special effects aside, “Jurassic Park” really did inspire the public at large to ask, “Why couldn’t we bring back dinosaurs?” — and that was 20 years ago. What are the practical applications (and can we at least get a wooly mammoth)?
Stewart Brand says de-extinction is a long slow process — multi-generation — but we will get woolly mammoths back. @longnow #TED2013
— TED Live (@TEDLiveHQ) February 27, 2013
And velociraptors? RT @mattyouens: "We will get wooly mammoths back" ~ Stewart Brand #TED2013 #TEDactive
— Neil Bonner ♚ (@IrishPrince) February 27, 2013
Only at TED can we hear "we will get the wooly mammoth back" & not consider it impossible. #StewartBrand at #TED2013.
— Suja Lowenthal (@SujaLowenthal) February 27, 2013
[Update: Suja Lowenthal is a member of the city council in Long Beach, Calif.]
Humans have made a huge hole in nature!We CAN bring back species we have killed &must repair the damage says Stewart Brand @longnow #TED2013
— WBTW: LuxuryTravel (@WeBlogtheWorld) February 27, 2013
Stewart Brand: "Humans have made a huge hole in nature over last 10k years. We have a moral obligation to repair some of the damage."
— ?Laurie?Burdick? ?k's ? (@widget333) February 27, 2013
Oh man, humans get the blame for everything. At least Brand, founder of the Long Now Foundation, has the boldness to reach back not to the invention of the SUV but to the previous 10,000 years of human existence.
Is it too early to lobby for which species to bring back (and which not to bring back)?
@aviendha86 Very interesting prospect given complexity of ecosystems. Might be helpful in many cases! Just please no T-rex 🙂 #StewartBrand
— Carly Holstein, PhD (@carlyholstein) February 27, 2013
My new word for today, thanks to #TED2013 and Stewart Brand: de-extinction. Passenger pigeon is next on his list!
— Jim Fruchterman (@JimFruchterman) February 27, 2013
Now I see hope for the long extinct Mauritian Dodo after listening to Stewart Brand's presentation at TED2013! #TED2013 #TEDActive
— Saint Doe (@saintdoe) February 27, 2013
Stewart Brand talk about bringing back extinct animals & changing evolution. Pet velociraptor anyone? #TED2013
— MrASingh (@MrASingh) February 27, 2013
@michellemalkin @DiscoverMag Can he bring back Lincoln? His type went extinct long ago.
— Mark (@ClearSkies55) February 27, 2013
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