MISD student wins first place at the State Science Fair

Science and Health

Eva Estrada (‘30) (pictured to the right) took top honors in the Microbiology category with her project, The Effect of Glyphosate on Microbial Health. She was one of only 10 students selected to compete for the coveted Best in Show award. (Courtesy Photo)

MIDLAND Midland ISD announced April 7 that a student from Goddard Junior High earned first place at the annual State Science Fair held at Texas A&M University. Eva Estrada (‘30) (pictured to the right) took top honors in the Microbiology category with her project, The Effect of Glyphosate on Microbial Health. She was one of only ten students selected to compete for the coveted Best in Show award.
Students from Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Ben Milam International Academy, Goddard Junior High School, Carver Center, and Emerson Elementary School presented their research at the State competition. Their hard work was evident as to qualify for this competition, students had to rank among the top 600 projects in Texas.
“We are incredibly proud of our students for their hard work and determination,” Leesha Seidel, Carver Center teacher and Eva’s sponsor, said in a news release. “Their success at the State Science Fair reflects the dedication of MISD students and teachers who continue to foster a love for learning and innovation.”
MISD remains committed to providing students with opportunities to excel in STEM education and equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in college, careers, and the military.

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Jurassic Bark: Scientists Resurrect Once-Extinct Dire Wolf

Science and Health

It’s been 4,282 days since the last (but not final) installment of George R.R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’ was published. While fans have been waiting for the conclusion that will likely never come, scientists have managed to resurrect the dire wolf ten millennia after it went extinct:

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TIME’s new cover: The dire wolf is back after over 10,000 years. Here’s what that means for other extinct species https://t.co/LQtosdfiEf pic.twitter.com/bv8EbeefuW— TIME (@TIME) April 7, 2025More from TIME:Romulus and Remus are doing what puppies do: chasing, tussling, nipping, nuzzling. But there’s something very un-puppylike about the snowy white 6-month olds—their size, for starters. At their young age they already measure nearly 4 ft. long, tip the scales at 80 lb., and could grow to 6 ft. and 150 lb. Then there’s their behavior: the angelic exuberance puppies exhibit in the presence of humans—trotting up for hugs, belly rubs, kisses—is completely absent. They keep their distance, retreating if a person approaches. Even one of the handlers who raised them from birth can get only so close before Romulus and Remus flinch and retreat. This isn’t domestic canine behavior, this is wild lupine behavior: the pups are wolves. Not only that, they’re dire wolves—which means they have cause to be lonely.The dire wolf once roamed an American range that extended as far south as Venezuela and as far north as Canada, but not a single one has been seen in over 10,000 years, when the species went extinct. Plenty of dire wolf remains have been discovered across the Americas, however, and that presented an opportunity for a company named Colossal Biosciences. 

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This writer is of two minds: on one hand, cute quasi-doggos!On the other: have these people not seen ‘Jurassic Park’?!I’m sure this will work out about as well as Jurassic Park worked right?Stop trying to play God.— Shawn Farash (@Shawn_Farash) April 7, 2025Where’s Ian Malcolm when you need him?pic.twitter.com/JVSirWueTB— Cincy Browncoat – You can’t take the sky from me (@cincy_browncoat) April 7, 2025There he is.On the list of “stupid scientist ideas” this is up there with “let’s block the sun to prevent global warming” and “let’s fund making a respiratory virus more deadly”.— Your Disapproving Dad (@disapprover69) April 7, 2025But the dire wolf is so FLOOFY!So if we DO get into de-extinction efforts, where’s the line that we draw? I feel like the Wooly Mammoth is about as close to dinos as we should get. MAYBE make ONE small dino JUST to see. But like kill it right after.— Mercy the Buzzard⭕ (@MercyBuzzard13) April 7, 2025Where is the line?And this writer’s seen ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ and she hates the scene where the brontosaurus dies on the island, so let’s not bring back a dinosaur just to off it, okay?Can scientists recreate the moderate Democrat?— WonderMutt (@WonderMutt20) April 7, 2025They’re scientists, no miracle workers.Democrats when they find out Trump resurrected dire wolves https://t.co/GKSAqvAELF pic.twitter.com/7baxFieVGN— Fred (@Grand_handsomer) April 7, 2025

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Heh.We literally got Direwolves back sooner than we got the next Game of Thrones book. https://t.co/hUTi9islOo— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) April 7, 2025As this writer said.Bro we literally got actual dire wolves before we got Winds of Winter https://t.co/LtPo2gksaJ— Trey the Explainer (@Trey_Explainer) April 7, 2025And we’re clearly not alone in thinking this.But wait — what if this is all a lead into Martin dropping the next installment?(It’s not, but a girl can dream)This feels like a magazine cover you see at a checkout counter while the newly introduced female lead buys nail polish remover and Neutrogena, which three days later she’ll have to use to fight nuclear-waste fueled feral dire wolves. https://t.co/Bh8p5c9I8Q— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) April 7, 2025’Feral Dire Wolves’ would make a great band name, though.

Scientists announce dire wolf has been brought back from extinction

Science and Health

The dire wolf – an extinct animal made famous in the TV series Game of Thrones – has been brought back from extinction after more than 10,000 years, a biotech start-up has announced.Texas company Colossal Biosciences said on Monday its researchers had used cloning and gene-editing based on two ancient samples of dire wolf DNA to birth three modern dire wolf pups – two six-month-old males named Romulus and Remus and a three-month-old female named Khaleesi.Colossal’s chief executive Ben Lamm called the development a “massive milestone”.He said in a statement: “I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works.“Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies.“It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’. Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”Researchers at Colossal explained the de-extinction process involved taking blood cells from a living grey wolf – the dire wolf’s closest living relative – and genetically modifying them in 20 different sites.That genetic material was transferred to an egg cell from a domestic dog, then the embryos were transferred to surrogates for gestation and, finally, successful birth.Dr Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer, said: “Our novel approach to iteratively improve our ancient genome in the absence of a perfect reference sets a new standard for paleogenome reconstruction.“Together with improved approaches to recover ancient DNA, these computational advances allowed us to resolve the evolutionary history of dire wolves and establish the genomic foundation for de-extinction – specifically for selecting with confidence dire wolf specific genetic variants that establish our targets for gene editing.”Distinctive traits of the dire wolf include light thick fur and muscular jaws, while they are also much larger than grey wolves.Colossal said the animals will live their lives on a continuously monitored, secure ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with the US Department of Agriculture.

Scientists genetically engineer wolves that resemble the extinct dire wolf

Science and Health

Colossal has previously announced similar projects to genetically alter cells from living species to create animals resembling extinct woolly mammoths, dodos and others.Though the pups may physically resemble young dire wolves, “what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer”, because they won’t have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents, said Colossal’s chief animal care expert Matt James.

Colossal also reported today that it had cloned four red wolves using blood drawn from wild wolves of the southeastern US’s critically endangered red wolf population. The aim is to bring more genetic diversity into the small population of captive red wolves, which scientists are using to breed and help save the species.

This technology may have broader application for conservation of other species because it’s less invasive than other techniques to clone animals, said Christopher Preston, a wildlife expert at the University of Montana who was not involved in the research. But it still requires a wild wolf to be sedated for a blood draw and that’s no simple feat, he added.

Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team met with officials from the US Interior Department in late March about the project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised the work on X on Monday as a “thrilling new era of scientific wonder” even as outside scientists said there are limitations to restoring the past.

“Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it can’t perform those functions” on today’s existing landscapes, said Buffalo’s Lynch.

‘Well-preserved’ baby mammoth dating back to Ice Age dissected by scientists: photos

Science and Health

Warning: This article contains graphic pictures. Reader discretion is advised.Stunning pictures show a female baby mammoth, dating back over 130,000 years, recently being dissected by Russian scientists.The mammoth, which has been nicknamed “Yana,” was dissected at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia, on March 27. The baby mammoth had been preserved in permafrost until she was dug up in the cold Russian province of Yakutia last year.Pictures of the necropsy show a team of scientists huddled around the 397-pound animal, which closely resembles a modern baby elephant. The creature’s mouth was open and her trunk was curled as scientists opened up her skin.Scientists initially believed that Yana lived 50,000 years ago, but that estimate was updated to over 130,000 years after scientists analyzed the permafrost layer where she was found.ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: ‘PRESERVED QUITE WELL’ A live broadcast of scientists performing a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” is seen on a screen at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)Maxim Cherpasov, head of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory, told Reuters last year that the mammoth was just over a year old when she died. The corpse was already partially eaten by predators when she was discovered.”As a rule, the part that thaws out first, especially the trunk, is often eaten by modern predators or birds,” Cherpasov told Reuters.ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER LONG-LOST TOMB OF UNKNOWN PHARAOH IN EGYPT Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)”Here, for example, even though the forelimbs have already been eaten, the head is remarkably well-preserved.”Though the discovery of a well-preserved mammoth is exceedingly rare, it is not unheard of for other mammoth remains to be discovered. In June 2024, a fisherman found a mammoth bone on the banks of the Raba River in Książnice, near Gdów, Poland.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)In August of the same year, a fossil collector discovered a portion of a Columbian mammoth tusk in an embankment in Madison County, Mississippi.Reuters contributed to this report.

‘Well-preserved’ baby mammoth dating back to Ice Age dissected by scientists: photos

Science and Health

Warning: This article contains graphic pictures. Reader discretion is advised.Stunning pictures show a female baby mammoth, dating back over 130,000 years, recently being dissected by Russian scientists.The mammoth, which has been nicknamed “Yana,” was dissected at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Russia, on March 27. The baby mammoth had been preserved in permafrost until she was dug up in the cold Russian province of Yakutia last year.Pictures of the necropsy show a team of scientists huddled around the 397-pound animal, which closely resembles a modern baby elephant. The creature’s mouth was open and her trunk was curled as scientists opened up her skin.Scientists initially believed that Yana lived 50,000 years ago, but that estimate was updated to over 130,000 years after scientists analyzed the permafrost layer where she was found.ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: ‘PRESERVED QUITE WELL’ A live broadcast of scientists performing a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” is seen on a screen at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)Maxim Cherpasov, head of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory, told Reuters last year that the mammoth was just over a year old when she died. The corpse was already partially eaten by predators when she was discovered.”As a rule, the part that thaws out first, especially the trunk, is often eaten by modern predators or birds,” Cherpasov told Reuters.ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER LONG-LOST TOMB OF UNKNOWN PHARAOH IN EGYPT Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)”Here, for example, even though the forelimbs have already been eaten, the head is remarkably well-preserved.”Though the discovery of a well-preserved mammoth is exceedingly rare, it is not unheard of for other mammoth remains to be discovered. In June 2024, a fisherman found a mammoth bone on the banks of the Raba River in Książnice, near Gdów, Poland.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)In August of the same year, a fossil collector discovered a portion of a Columbian mammoth tusk in an embankment in Madison County, Mississippi.Reuters contributed to this report.

Scientists genetically engineer wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolf

Science and Health

Then the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites, said Colossal’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro. They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born.

Scientists genetically engineer wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolf

Science and Health

Then the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites, said Colossal’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro. They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born.