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This week, genomics and biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences unveiled genetically engineered caninesnamed Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesithat it calls dire wolves, a species of wolf that went extinct 13,000 years ago. The company, which has raised $437 million from investors and is valued at $10.2 billion, created the animals by editing the DNA of existing gray wolf cells to include traits from long-extinct dire wolves (like fluffy white fur and big size). It then developed embryos using cloning technology and implanted them into a female dog. Critics immediately disagreed with Colossals de-extinction claim, saying that the creatures, which were incubated and birthed by a large female dog, are closer to genetically modified designer dogs. Colossals cofounder and CEO Ben Lamm is now pushing back. It’s a stupid argument, Lamm said in an interview with the Most Innovative Companies podcast this week when asked about the criticism. We’ve said from day one that we are going to do a lot of computational analysis and then identify the core genes that make a mammoth or a dire wolf or a dodo and engineer them back into its closest living relatives.” At the heart of the issue is the question of how to define de-extinction. There are about 11 different ways to classify a species, Lamm said. Our definition of de-extinction is on our website. It explains that there’s a thing called functional de-extinction. The IUCN, which is like the Species Council for the world, five years ago, put out a statement saying that de-extinction means developing proxies. Proxies, he explains, are not exact replicas of an extinct species, but come very close genetically. On Thursday, Colossal submitted a study that it sponsored for peer review. The research claims that new information about genomics supports Colossals argument about the wolves classification. The paper builds on that previous study, published in Nature, and presents further evidence that dire wolves are considered to have a distinct evolutionary lineage from wolves. It lays out the defining characteristics that resulted in the dire wolf being considered a separate species. Because Colossals canines exhibit nearly all of those characteristics, the company argues that the animals should be classified as such. [Photo: Colossal Biosciences] In the interview with Fast Company, Lamm also explained that the companys dire wolves will be raised with top-notch veterinary care on a 2,000-acre reserve. The dog that mothered them has been made available to adopt through an anonymous program. As the company pushes forward on its larger project of bringing back extinct species, Lamm hopes to rewild all of its creations in their natural habitats. (He does not plan on making money from Colossals clones.) [Photo: Colossal Biosciences] Some conservationists have argued that the de-extinction of animals may make people lose interest in preserving species that are near extinction. Lamm hit back at that critique, pointing out that the company makes some of its technologies available free to conservation groups and academic partners. To make money, the company has spun out an AI-based software platform, Form Bio, which helps scientists manage complicated data sets. Colossal plans to spin out more companies to license the research tools it develops. [Photo: Colossal Biosciences] Lamm pointed out that the company is using its technology for conservation. At the same time as the dire wolves were announced, Colossal revealed that it had cloned four red wolves that will be able to join the 15 left on earth. The red wolf project, to me, is as magical as the dire wolf, Lamm said. [Photo: Colossal Biosciences] Though some critics have argued that the company is more focused on attentin-grabbing stunts than actual research, Lamm said those goals are not incompatible, and that the company is merely trying to showcase its work. Right now, if we do nothing, we’re gonna lose up to 50% of all biodiversity between now and 2050, he said. We need to do things that are more important and more radical. You can build thoughtful yet disruptive technologies at the same time.
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E-Commerce
It really is mind-blowing how much incredible stuff we can do with images these days.Twasnt long ago, after all, that advanced image adjustments required pricey desktop-computer software and super-specific knowledge.These days, weve got an endless array of awesome options at our fingertips for making practically any image look amazingwithout investing a single dime or ounce of energy.And whats especially cool is when you encounter a new image-enhancing power tool that transforms old photos in a way you never dreamed possible.Unearth all sorts of transformative tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. A new useful discovery in your inbox every Wednesday!Your new image unblurring superpowerAllow me to introduce you to a supremely simple and surreal-seeming web app called Unblur Image Onlineor just Unblur Image for short.Dont let its unimaginative name fool you: This tool works wonders. And its laughably easy to use. Unblur Image lets you upload any photo free, and with the click or tap of a single button, it sharpens it andwell, yknow, unblurs it almost instantly. No exaggeration: Youll need maybe 20 seconds, start to finish, for the service to work its magic.All you do is open up the site, smack the big Upload Image button, and select any photo on your device.Then, a mere blink or two latervoil: Youve got your result, unblurred and also upsized to look as crisp, clear, and contemporary as possible, even if the original photo was fairly ancient (like this old picture of my desk from back in my TV news daysjust look at that monitor!).A before-and-after view of my blurry old image on the Unblur Image website.The difference can really be astounding. Heres an old blurry concert photo I found in my personal librarybefore and after its near-instant unblurring:You can see how much difference the unblurring process makes in this sliding-line comparison.Pretty wild, no?While some phones do now come with their own built-in image-unblurring equivalents, Unblur Image really does give em a run for their money when it comes to qualityand its available to use on any device, phone or computer, right within whatever browser you prefer. Ive already had several readers comment to me that the quality is almost indistinguishable from the universally praised image-editing tools provided on Googles top-of-the-line Pixel devices.Add in the fact that its free, and this is one Cool Tool well worth embracing. Unblur Image is available on the webno downloads or installations needed. Its completely free for an unspecified number of uses per day, which the site says should suffice for most regular needs. Ive yet to run into a limit when trying several within a single day. If you do need more, Unblur Image offers paid credits for purchase. But really, how many images are you gonna be unblurring?! The services privacy policy says it doesnt store or share any manner of personal data. My special thanks to Android Intelligence reader Michelle T. for bringing this one to my attention!Ready for more tantalizing tech treasures? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an incredible audio app thatll tune up your days in some truly delightful waysand a new off-the-beaten-path gen in your inbox every Wednesday!
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E-Commerce
I couldnt tell you what my very first purchase from Amazon wasalthough I know it was a book and that I purchased it on my 7-pound laptop using a dial-up modem that took several minutes to connect me to Al Gores internet. Im certain I was delighted to receive my purchase about a week later, even though I was paying for shipping. Not only does this memory prove that I have officially reached my back-in-my-day! old codger years, but it also shows how quickly consumer expectations can shift. In less than 30 years, online shopping has gone from an occasional novelty that required some consumer effort (waiting on that modem connection was not for the faint of heart) to a rapid process so seamless that even next-day delivery can feel a bit slow. Much of Amazons success lies in its promise of fast shipping all across the country (and world). The online marketplace can deliver on that promise because of its massive delivery infrastructure, the logistics of which are truly mind-bending to contemplate. But Amazon would not have become the dominant shopping method if not for one simple thing: free shipping. The expectation of free shipping has helped solidify Jeff Bezos as one of the richest men in the world (with his own marital-aid shaped rocket, which seems to be standard issue for modern oligarchs). Unfortunately, that means free shipping has cost us a lot more than we could have ever imagined. Heres why Ive decided to pay for shipping moving forwardand would encourage you to do the same. ‘Free’ scrambles our brains In his 2008 bestselling book Predictably Irrational, behavioral psychologist Dan Ariely breaks down how Amazons sales increased when it began offering free shipping for purchases over $30. After instituting this policy in the early 2000s, Amazon customers would willingly spend more money to buy an additional item they didnt necessarily want or needjust to save themselves $4 in shipping costs. This is not a rational reaction, and yet most (if not every single one) of us has blithely spent more money on two items, one of which we didnt really want, to avoid paying for shipping. Whats more, when Amazon in France originally rolled out a similar shipping offer for purchases over a certain amount, there was no sales increase. Thats because the French division of Amazon offered shipping for one franc rather than free shipping if you spent more than the purchase minimum. Since one franc was equal to about 20 cents, youd think that French online shoppers would also jump at the chance to reduce their shipping costsbut pricing the shipping at one franc allowed consumers to recognize the true cost of adding an unwanted item to their shopping carts. Yet once Amazon in France switched to free shipping to match the rest of the company, sales increased dramatically. Prime suspicion Amazon is certainly not the only company to offer free shipping over a certain dollar amountand there are definitely times when that kind of shipping deal is good for the customer. But the introduction of the Amazon Prime membership in 2005 altered the calculation. For an annual fee of $139, Amazon customers get unlimited, free one-day shippingwith some same-day delivery available. If free shipping over a dollar threshold is a brain-scrambler, Prime membership makes it nigh impossible to recognize how much youre really paying. Think of it this way: More than 200 million people across the globe pay Amazon $139 annually for the privilege of buying stuff more conveniently from Amazon. Thats $27.8 billion we pay to Bezoss companyso that we can pay more money to the company when we need books, diapers, clothes, or anything else our little hearts desire. The true cost of free shipping It may seem that Im just ragging on a successful business vision that truly does save most consumers money. If youre going to buy things online, you probably would spend more than $139 per year in shipping fees, so why not take advantage of Prime membership? But money is not the only cost worth considering. By making free shipping an expectation, Amazon has also cost us the following: Workers rights: One of the ways to cut costs to offer free shipping is to underpay and overwork the workers who make it happen. Fast, free shipping comes with a serious cost to the warehouse workers and delivery drivers tasked with fulfilling that promise. Resourcefulness: When something is cheap and convenient, we tend to ignore other solutions. For example, when I realized my kid had outgrown his swim trunks the day before summer camp, I ordered several new swimsuits from Amazoneven though his older brother probably had something that would fit him. Small businesses: Any small or independent business cant afford to offer free shipping. Patience: American consumers have been taught to expect immediate gratification in a world where you can order something while sitting on the toilet and receive it within a few hours. Quality: Good things come to those who wait, but mediocre stuff can arrive on your doorstep via next-day delivery. Connection: Commerce used to require interaction with other people. I dislike talking to strangers as much as the next misanthrope, but reducing our need to connect with others can also reduce our ability to do so. The environment: If its cheap, easy, and quick to buy something, then its also easy to discard itnot to mention the environmental impact of shipping the item to you. The subversive politics of paying for shipping Many Americans have been troubled by the rise of oligarchs (to put it mildly) and have been working on divesting from them. Thats an admirable goal that can be difficult to pull off. But simply committing to paying for shipping will offer many of the same benefits. Specifically, recognizing that shipping is part of the cost of online purchases helps to level the e-tailer playing field. Amazon can afford to give their shipping away for free since the company is raking in your Prime membership dollars and knows that youll buy everything from their handy-dandy storefront and app. Small businesses that dont sell everything under the sun cant possibly compete. You can support small businesses by including the cost of shipping in your purchase expectations. Paying for shipping also forces you to think about your purchases in a way that one-click overnight free shipping does not. If youre not willing to pay the $4 required to ship a purchase to your home, do you really want or need that purchase? Additionally, when we look at shipping as a line item that can be cut, the loss of that money will most likely affect the workers responsible for delivering products to you. Deciding that you will pay for shipping helps to protect their jobs and rights and lowers their likelihood of injury. Finally, paying for shipping is a way to reject the culture of constant consumerism on which oligarchs have built their empires. We dont need to always buy-buy-buy to have a robust economy or a satisfying lifeand that is much easier to remember when were paying for shipping. Free shipping isnt free Were living through the consequences of cheap and convenient online shopping. We can take back our agency with one little changepaying for the cost of shipping.
Category:
E-Commerce
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