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Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin!
大家好，欢迎来到脑洞大开的生命奇想！
This week, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that a bunch of really cool animals are currently extinct:
这周我有个好消息和一个坏消息。坏消息是，一群非常酷的动物现在已经灭绝了：
dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and my personal favorite: the Carolina parakeet. Look how adorable this thing is!
恐龙，猛犸象，剑齿虎，还有我的最爱：卡罗莱纳长尾鹦鹉。看，这东西多可爱啊!
The good news is that we may be able to bring some of these animals back from extinction.
好消息是，我们也许能够把这些已经灭绝的动物拯救回来。
But whether or not we should is up for debate. So how is that even possible in the first place?
但是我们是否应该这样做还颇有争议。那么，怎样才能做到呢?
Well, unfortunately for any Jurassic Park fans that're watching, dinosaurs aren't going to be brought back.
对于那些正在观看这个视频的《侏罗纪公园》的粉丝来说，很不幸，恐龙不会回来的。
Instead, more recent extinct animals, like the passenger pigeon that lived in the 19th century will be resurrected.
而更晚灭绝的动物，比如生活在19世纪的旅鸽，将会复活。
And that's because, in order to bring these animals back, scientists need bits of their genetic material that have been salvaged.
这是因为，要把这些动物复活，科学家们需要留存下来的基因材料。
And sadly, DNA from dinosaurs hasn't survived long enough to be used here.
不幸的是，恐龙的DNA还没有存活那么久，不可以用在这里。
That's a bummer. I really wanted to ride a Velociraptor.
真糟糕。我是真的想骑速龙。
But for the animals that can be resurrected, they'll be more like hybrids than actual clones.
但是那些可以复活的动物，它们更像是杂交的而不是真正克隆出来的。
See, the passenger pigeons that scientists are trying to bring back won't be exact copies of the originals.
科学家试图复活旅鸽，并不是完完全全复制了原来的旅鸽。
Instead, scientists would need to create a hybrid bird using the passenger pigeon's closest living relative, like the band-tailed pigeon.
相反，科学家们需要利用旅鸽最接近的近亲，比如带尾鸽，创造一只杂交鸟。
Simply put, this would work by changing the band-tailed pigeon's genome so that it has a few traits of the passenger pigeon.
简单地说，这是通过改变带尾鸽的基因组来实现的，这样它就有一些旅鸽的特征。
Essentially, the scientists would create a cell that is mostly band-tailed pigeon, but also a little bit passenger pigeon.
从本质上讲，科学家们会创造出一个细胞，多数是带尾鸽，但也会有一些旅鸽的特征。
And eventually, that cell can go on to create an embryo and eventually an animal.
最终，细胞可以继续创造一个胚胎，最终成为一个动物。
So, we'd end up with passenger pigeon 2.0, not the real thing, but the closest possible.
所以，我们最后得到的是旅鸽2.0，不是真实的东西，而是尽可能接近的。
And the same thing might also be done with elephants in hope of bringing back the woolly mammoths.
同样的事情也可能发生在大象身上，以期能复活长毛象。
But this brings up a bunch of ethical issues, like should we even try to bring these animals back in the first place?
但这带来了一系列的道德问题，比如我们是否应该复活这些动物?
The hope is that, if any of these extinct animals could be brought back, they'd eventually be reintroduced into their natural habitat.
人们希望，如果这些灭绝的动物能够被复活，它们最终会重新进入自己的自然栖息地。
But for a lot of these animals, that natural habitat no longer exists.
但是对于很多动物来说，自然栖息地已经不复存在了。
What the passenger pigeon used to call home has now been replaced with houses, malls, and highways.
旅鸽原来的家现在已经被房子、购物中心和高速公路所取代。
And even more, resurrecting extinct animals might take resources and attention away from programs that would prevent even more species from going extinct as well.
而且，复活已灭绝的动物可能会分散资源和注意力，影响防止更多物种灭绝的计划。
But perhaps the most interesting question is what we would even consider these resurrected animals.
但也许最有趣的问题是，我们如何看待这些复活的动物。
They would start off as hybrids, but what would we call them as they begin to look and act more like the original species?
它们最初是杂交品种，等它们外表和行为更像其原始物种时，我们会怎么称呼它们呢?
In other words, would that be enough to say that the species is really back, or just that humans have created a really convincing replica?
换句话说，这是否足以说明物种真的回归了，或者仅仅是人类创造了一个令人信服的复制品?
What do you think? Let me know in the comment section below!
你怎么认为？请在评论部分告诉我！
One animal that we definitely don't want to lose is cats, but what would happen if they all went extinct tomorrow?
我们非常不想失去的是猫，但如果它们明天都灭绝了，会怎么样呢？
Check out this video and find out.
看看这个视频吧。
Cats are pretty important animals. Even though they may seem to be pretty lazy, they actually have a major effect on our lives.
猫真的很重要。虽然猫看起来懒洋洋的，但是它们真的对我们的生活有很大的影响。
To show how, let's consider this: "What would happen if every cat on the Earth suddenly died?"
不信的话，思考一下，如果地球上所有的猫都突然回喵星会怎么样？
There's a link in the description if you're on mobile.
如果你是手机观看的，在描述区有个链接。
Make sure you come back every Monday for a brand new video. As always, I'm Blocko and this has been Life Noggin.
每周一都要回来看新视频哦。我是宝高，这里是脑洞大开的生命奇想。
Please don't go extinct and don't forget to keep on thinking!
千万不要灭绝啊！也不要停止思考！
