#moas — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Levka @[email protected] · 2025-07-29 · 18:11 UTC

"A species of huge, flightless bird that once inhabited New Zealand disappeared around 600 years ago, shortly after human settlers first arrived on the country’s two main islands. Now, a Texas-based biotech company says it has a plan to bring it back.

Genetic engineering startup Colossal Biosciences has added the South Island giant moa — a powerful, long-necked species that stood 10 feet (3 meters) tall and may have kicked in self-defense — to a fast-expanding list of animals it wants to resurrect by genetically modifying their closest living relatives.

(. . .)

To restore the moa, Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday it would collaborate with New Zealand’s Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, an institution based at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, that was founded to support the Ngāi Tahu, the main Māori tribe of the southern region of New Zealand.

The project would initially involve recovering and analyzing ancient DNA from nine moa species to understand how the giant moa (Dinornis robustus) differed from living and extinct relatives in order to decode its unique genetic makeup, according to a company statement.

(. . .)

As part of the project, Colossal said it would undertake ecological restoration projects in New Zealand, focusing on rehabilitating potential moa habitats while supporting existing native species.

Many scientists argue that while Colossal’s researchers are advancing the field of genetic engineering, it’s not truly possible to resurrect an extinct animal — any attempt could only create a genetically modified, hybrid species. Suggesting that extinction can be reversed through technology risks undermining the urgency of conserving existing species and ecosystems, critics say."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/science/giant-moa-colossal-biosciences

#moas #aotearoa #deextinction

DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2024-10-06 · 23:28 UTC

In other news... WTF!

Dangerous Low Flying Jets Target More #Tohono #Oodham, #Apache and #Yaqui Communities

via #CensoredNews, Oct 5, 2024

Wild Earth Guardians:

"The Threat: The U.S. Air Force is proposing low-level fighter jet maneuvers and supersonic flights over White Mountains, Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, and more. It will affect the Tohono O’odham Nation, #WhiteMountain and #SanCarlosApache Nations, and #PascuaYaqui Tribe.

Wilderness and Sacred Places at Risk

The Wilderness areas at risk include the Gila and Blue Range Wildernesses in New Mexico, plus the following Wildernesses in Arizona: Superstition, Salt River Canyon, White Canyon, Needles Eye, Aravaipa Canyon, Galiuro, Santa Teresa, Fishhooks, Bear Wallow, Escudilla, Mount Baldy, Chiracahua, Arrastra Mountains, Tres Alamos, Rawhide Mountains, Harcuvar Mountains, Swansea, East Cactus Plain, Harquahala Mountains, Aubrey Peak, Upper Burro Creek, Hummingbird Springs, Organ Pipe Cactus, Cabeza Prieta, Coyote Mountains, Big Horn Mountains, Baboquivari Peak, and Pajarita Wildernesses. In addition to these 30 designated Wildernesses, this proposal also threatens the Blue Range Primitive Area as well as many Wilderness Study Areas.

Eighteen of these Wildernesses were designated by the 1990 Arizona Desert Wilderness Act, which unfortunately contained a bad special provision that allows military overflights. But that doesn’t mean the proposed action won’t damage those Wildernesses, nor does that 1990 law give the Air Force a free pass to damage the other Wildernesses.

"The Air Force wants to make changes to 10 #MilitaryOperationAreas (#MOAs) to enhance its airspace training capabilities. Specifically, the Air Force wants to lower the altitudes of existing MOAs to support low-altitude training (in some cases, as low as 500 feet above the ground, and in one case, The U.S. Air Force has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that proposes a massive increase in low-level jet training flights in more than 1.2 million acres of designated Wilderness in Arizona and New Mexico. Such activity would shatter the area’s natural sounds, ruin the wilderness experience for visitors, and stress native wildlife.

"Your help is needed by October 9 to tell the Air Force to keep low-altitude jets, sonic booms, and supersonic flights out of these Wildernesses (link below).

"The Air Force also wants to authorize supersonic training at lower altitudes in more MOAs, lower the minimum release altitude for flares, and authorize use of chaff bundles containing up to 5 million #aluminum-coated silica fibers, which are used to obscure radar, and are designed to stay airborne as long as possible before they settle to the ground."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/dangerous-low-flying-jets-target-more.html

Link to Submit Public Comments (#Arizona):
https://www.arizonaregionalairspaceeis.com/comments/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=3ae8a8ee-8716-4497-b5d2-cb08a9bd0157

#ProtectTheWilderness #DefendTheSacred #USAirForce #SoundPollution #AluminumPollution