Anyway, the first thing I learned this past week is that a team of scientists and entrepreneurs have started a company to resurrect the woolly mammoth. That's right. This company, which they've dubbed "Colossal" (Fitting name, I guess), intends to genetically engineer then place thousands of these tusked behemoths back on the Siberian tundra. And just how are they going to do this? They're going to edit elephant DNA, adding genes for mammoth traits like dense hair and thick fat for withstanding cold. The company's goal is to produce embryos in a few years, and ultimately to produce entire populations of the animals.
The way the company sees it, these creatures will roam about the frozen tundra where by stomping on moss, knocking down trees, and fertilizing the soil with mammoth droppings (I guess you can interpret "mammoth" two weeks in this case, both of them appropriate), these huge beasts will gradually turn it back into the lush grassland it was during the time of the original mammoths.
Yet, in another attempt to revitalize our rapidly declining planet, as I learned from reading the paper, there's a movement afoot that will allow us to choose another form of disposal for our bodies once we no longer have any use for them. Instead of interment, entombment, or cremation, we will now have the choice of being "composted."
This method will have two
benefits: It will free up space that's now being wasted on cemeteries and it
will provide even more fertilizer for the soil. And, though it's more expensive
than cremation (roughly $7,500 compared to $2,700, or something like that. I
forget), it's much cheaper than a traditional funeral, which runs around
$10,000 or more, depending upon how fancy you want it to be. (Personally, I never understood why anyone would want one of those silk-lined, brass-fitted ornate coffins when they are really going to be able to enjoy it.)
According to the article I read, which was originally published in Popular Science, "Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) is a method in which human remains are processed and turned into soil, aka human composting. The body is broken down with organic materials like wood chips and/or straw for several weeks inside of an enclosure until it becomes soil. This practice was first legalized in 2019 and came into effect in 2020 in Washington State, and has just this summer become legalized in Colorado."
Have you ever noticed that Colorado seems always to be in the forefront when it comes to innovative ideas, well, like legalizing pot?
Okay, so we have a group of
folks, on one hand, attempting to resurrect woolly mammoths, and, on the other
hand, composting human bodies, both ventures offering a way to help preserve
and/or save out planet. I do, though, have two concerns: One, once those woolly
mammoths start producing baby mammoths, will they become so numerous that they'll run out of forage in Siberia
and start branching out, possibly traveling across that land bridge and then
decimating Alaska's forests and fields? And, two, once my body is composted, will it then be packaged
and sold in the local Home Depot alongside the Miracle Grow and Scott’s Weed
and Feed? Those, in my opinion, are questions worth considering in the wee, still hours of the morning as I lie there in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
