*If our successors revive some genetic specimen from our species someday, I kinda hope it's Stewart. That would be good.
From: Stewart Brand
"The Long Now Foundation is working on bringing back some extinct species, starting with the iconic passenger pigeon. Eventually the roster of revived species could include the woolly mammoth, the dazzling Carolina parakeet, the Tasmanian tiger (thylacine), the ivory-billed woodpecker, the great auk (penguin of the north seas), and hundreds of others, including potentially the massive Steller’s sea cow that used to graze our kelp forests and the storied dodo. (((Hey, I would kickstarter a dodo. At least they're easy to catch.)))
"Thanks to the accelerating capabilities of medical biotech, it is becoming possible to take the DNA of extinct species in museum specimens and some fossils (no dinosaurs) and bring it back to life via the genomes of the closest living relatives of the extinct animals. Molecular biologists and conservation biologists are collaborating on ways to bring the creatures all the way back to where they belong—in the wild.
"Long Now’s project, called Revive & Restore, began formally this year, co-founded by me and my wife Ryan Phelan, who heads the enterprise. We’ve convened some 50 scientists at a sequence of three conferences on “de-extinction,” the last one a highly public TEDxDeExtinction hosted by National Geographic in March. We’ve hired a full-time revivor of passenger pigeons (and are looking to hire a project coordinator).
"Next Tuesday, at a brand new venue in San Francisco, the SFJAZZ Center, I’ll report on the story so far and where it is heading over the next century or two.
" "Reviving Extinct Species," Stewart Brand, SFJAZZ Center, Hayes Valley, San Francisco, 7pm, Tuesday, May 21. The show starts promptly at 7:30pm.
"To be sure of a seat:
• Long Now Members can use the discount code on the Brand Seminar page to reserve 2 free seats.
• You can purchase tickets for $15 each.
• Tune into the live audio stream for Long Now Members at 7:30 PST - become a member for just $8 a month.
Share this talk: Stewart Brand, "Reviving Extinct Species" Long Now talk on 5/21 http://goo.gl/d1qDp
Talks coming up:
June 18 (Tue.) - Ed Lu, "Anthropocene Astronomy: Thwarting Dangerous Asteroids Begins with Finding the Damn Things"
July 29 (Mon.) - Craig Childs, “Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Everending Earth”
Aug. 13 (Tue.) - Daniel Kahneman, "Thinking Fast and Slow"
"High-quality videos of the talks and other benefits (such as priority tickets) are available to Long now members. Membership, which starts at $8/month ($96/year), helps support the series and other Long Now projects. Joinable here.
"This is one of a monthly series of Seminars About Long-term Thinking (SALT) organized by The Long Now Foundation. Free audio and my summaries of all previous talks are available for download here (or stay up to date with the podcast here). You'll find a range of long-term thinking items on our Blog (RSS). If you would like to be notified by email (like this one) of forthcoming talks, go here to sign up online. Any questions, contact Danielle Engelman at Long Now – 415-561-6582 x1 or [email protected].
"You are welcome to forward this notice to anyone you think might be interested."
–Stewart Brand
