The Smilodone Code
One of the wildest things about writing fiction is finding an actual piece of information that seems unreal, but learning it's absolutely true and running with it. I love these little mysterious nuggets of information, because quite frankly - it's almost too good to be true. My imagination switches into high gear about all of the possibilities, good or bad, in these situations. Science gives an inch, science fiction writers take a mile — in all directions.
For instance, my thought process at the beginning of my latest story was heavily influenced by an idea my sister had, and I liked it, but I also realized the storyline would need further detail. Based on a short dream, she described a ski resort that was losing skiers - but not exactly due to a collision with trees — it was an animal - a prehistoric animal, in fact, that was up there creating havoc for the hotel and mauling its guests. The hotel was, of course, hiding the information from the public. Soon, an investigation begins... but how would this be possible?
It wasn't long before I had a long and enjoyable brainstorming session with my family. One evening, when we all sat down to share a glass of wine, I went over the plot and thought about a comet that slammed into the earth - as part of the explanation.
"Maybe a comet slams into the area near the ski resort, which causes a strange chain of events. It melts away the snow and has life-giving properties, causing a perma-frozen beast or two to come to life?" I began.
"No, that wouldn't work," my brother said. "How about a cosmic event? Like a galactic cosmic ray, that creates a bizarre time-warp event on Earth? Somehow, it creates a hole in time, causing a few prehistoric beasts to pass through time. .
"I like it!" I exclaimed. "Oh wait, but how do I explain it exactly?" I asked. He shrugged. "You don't. You just suggest it. No one knows exactly. That's all the readers need to know," he smiles. "It's a mystery. An anomaly."
I run with it. "Okay, so... an unknown physical mechanism creates a time curvature near some Neanderthals, who are on a mammoth hunt near the Arctic! They see a strange bright aurora borealis in the sky, then - BAM, the Neanderthals and the mammoths their hunting, unwittingly get caught in a time warp and suddenly find themselves in the future during the hunt
"Along with a saber tooth tiger," my sister chimes in. She smiles.
The room is hushed.
Of course, we circle back and forth a few times to the idea that there's a secretive lab nearby where mad scientists are creating the prehistoric beats. They've escaped.
The room is hushed.
Of course, we circle back and forth a few times to the idea that there's a secretive lab nearby where mad scientists are creating the prehistoric beats. They've escaped.
My mother eventually replies - eh - too contrived - too easy," she said.
But little did she know, that a mad scientist type, wasn't too contrived or too easy. The fact is - is that a real Russian businessman is proposing a “Pleistocene Park” and wants to use DNA from mammoths found frozen in the ice to recreate them. Coined as "de-extinction" his name is Andrey Melnichenko, and he touts his idea as a climate fix. And a US company based in Texas, called Collassal Biotech is working with him to make it a reality.
The scientists behind Pleistocene Park claim grazing animals like the extint mammoths — could foster plants that absorb CO2 and reduce the heat sucked into the earth.
Let's just say when I encountered this information, I found it fascinating. After all, what could be better than a mad oligarch with a God complex who becomes bored of money and dabbles in DNA?
And what happens if things don't exactly go as planned? Will Mother Nature have ideas of her own? This is my responsibility as a fiction writer and my passion. For the good and the bad of writing, or de-extinction, let's just hope that mankind doesn't put its own species on the endangered list. But yeah, for real, there's already a plan to resurrect a woolly mammoth - no comets or time warp is actually needed.
But little did she know, that a mad scientist type, wasn't too contrived or too easy. The fact is - is that a real Russian businessman is proposing a “Pleistocene Park” and wants to use DNA from mammoths found frozen in the ice to recreate them. Coined as "de-extinction" his name is Andrey Melnichenko, and he touts his idea as a climate fix. And a US company based in Texas, called Collassal Biotech is working with him to make it a reality.
The scientists behind Pleistocene Park claim grazing animals like the extint mammoths — could foster plants that absorb CO2 and reduce the heat sucked into the earth.
Let's just say when I encountered this information, I found it fascinating. After all, what could be better than a mad oligarch with a God complex who becomes bored of money and dabbles in DNA?
And what happens if things don't exactly go as planned? Will Mother Nature have ideas of her own? This is my responsibility as a fiction writer and my passion. For the good and the bad of writing, or de-extinction, let's just hope that mankind doesn't put its own species on the endangered list. But yeah, for real, there's already a plan to resurrect a woolly mammoth - no comets or time warp is actually needed.
All that's needed is the DNA... and in 2020, scientists mapped the DNA of the saber-toothed tiger for the first time.
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