It made the front page of the New York Times. Ancient DNA over 2 million years old, retrieved from the frozen dirt of Greenland. It reached back further in time than many scientists used to think was even theoretically possible. And it contained the genetic ghost of an /entire ecosystem/ – one that has no counterpart in today’s world and one that we had /no idea/ even existed. It told of a time when Greenland was green…and how we might borrow genes from that ancient past to help us adapt to the future.This story should look familiar to my readers. It's the one told in "Hunt for the Oldest DNA," the NOVA episode that won Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.
I was glad to be wrong about "Hunt for the Oldest DNA" episode of NOVA, the winner.The Earth 2.4 million years ago, during the earliest Pleistocene, wasn't as warm as it was 3.6 million years ago, the last time carbon dioxide levels were as high as today, but it's a good analog just the same. If that's the future we're heading towards, then it might be a good idea to borrow the adaptations those organisms had to prepare today's organisms for the warmer world that's coming. That's a Crazy Eddie concept, but I'm enough of a Crazy Eddie to approve of it.This is the only episode of NOVA nominated and I agree it's probably the best one of 2024. It's also the nominee with the most important science. That written, it's not likely to win the most votes, since most of the electorate will judge the nominees for their cinematic and journalistic merit, not their scientific value. As I reiterate nearly every time I write about awards shows, electorates matter.The News & Doc Emmy voters pleasantly surprised me by voting for the nominee with the most important science. Congratulations to them and NOVA!
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
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