The Innovative Science Behind Woolly Mice  March 6, 2025

 

Hello, hello, and welcome to the show. I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10, your 10 minutes of news for this Thursday, March 6th.

 

Happy Friday Eve. We are going to start today with an inspiring story about a tech trailblazer, an inventor, one of the many figures we're highlighting this month, Women's History Month.

 

It's a national celebration that has been honoring historic figures in some form or fashion since a congressional act in 1981.

 

Today we are featuring someone you may not have heardof, but there is a strong chance you are very familiar with some of the technology she's helped to create. Lisa Gelobter helped create the GIF. GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format.

 

It's a type of image file format that often contains a short, looping, animated video, most often used on social media. You've probably seen or used some of these popular ones. Homer Simpson, uh-oh, I'm just going to stay out of this one.

 

looping [ˈlupɪŋ] n.【计算机】循环（同一语句或语句组的重复执行，日常由DO语句控制）

animated [ˋænə͵metɪd] adj. 活生生的，栩栩如生的

 

Or Shaq, oh yeah, very excited. Or how about Kermit the Frog? Oh my goodness, GIFs have become a part of the fabric of everyday communication. They sometimes say it all, expressing a thought or reaction without a single word needing to be said.

 

As an engineer for the earliest interactive multimedia platform, Shockwave, Gelobter played a key role in developing the animation used to create GIFs.

 

And her impact doesn't stop there. She's held leadership roles at BET and Hulu, and even served as Chief Digital Service Officer for the U.S. Department of Education.

 

Gelobter is a strong advocate for women's rights, using her platform as the CEO and co-founder of tEQuitable to raise awareness about the importance of gender equality and fairness in the tech industry.

 

To some news now about U.S. politics. On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump delivered his first address to Congress since returning to the White House.

 

The president used the speech to highlight some of the rapid changes his administration has made 43 days after being sworn into office. And he used the moment to further make his case for his administration's policies to the American public.

 

Issue number one in the president's speech, and on the minds of many Americans, the economy.

 

President Trump doubled down on his tariff agenda, which went into effect this week. The increased taxes on America's closest trading partners like Canada and China have sent stocks sinking and sent businesses scrambling to adjust to higher pricing for materials and manufacturing, as many of the opponents of this agenda had predicted.

 

double down (+ on something) 加倍努力、坚持己见; 更加坚决

opponent [əˋponənt] n. 反对者

 

In the coming days, we will likely begin to see how these new tariffs might affect consumer confidence and possibly consumers' wallets.

 

As is custom, after a presidential address to Congress, a member of the opposite party delivered a rebuttal speech.

 

rebuttal [rɪˋbʌt!] n. 举反例；反驳；抗辩

 

This year, the youngest Democratic woman elected to the Senate, freshman Senator Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan, delivered the party's response, questioning the president's assertions and asking the public to continue to hold their representatives accountable.

 

assertion [əˋsɝʃən] n.（意见等的）坚持

 

Pop quiz hotshot.

 

In what geologic epoch did the woolly mammoth begin to roam the earth?

 

geologic [dʒɪəˋlɑdʒɪk] adj. 地质学上的，地质的

epoch [ˋɛpək] n. 时期；时代；重要时期

 

Miocene Epoch, Pliocene Epoch, Pleistocene Epoch, or Holocene Epoch?

 

Miocene [ˋmaɪə͵sin] n. & adj.【地】第三紀中新世（的）

Pliocene [ˋplaɪə͵sin] n. & adj.【地】上新世的；上新世岩的

Pleistocene [ˋplaɪstə͵sin] n. & adj.【地】更新世的；更新世岩的

Holocene [ˋhɑlə͵sin] n. & adj.【地】全新紀（的）

 

Your answer here is Pleistocene epic, often referred to as the Ice Age. It was a period that began 2.6 million years ago. Mammoths and saber-toothed tigers were found on multiple continents.

 

mammoth [ˋmæməθ] n.【古生】毛象

 

Don't call it a comeback. I've been here for years, a line for all the old school LL Cool J fans out there, and maybe what woolly mammoths would say if they could talk. These beasts that stood about 10 to 12 feet high, according to scientists, became extinct around 4,000 years ago.

 

But a biotech company is on a missionto resurrect the extinct behemoths. They want to reintroduce the woolly mammoth in the next three years.

 

resurrect [͵rɛzəˋrɛkt] v. 使复活；使复苏；使再活跃

 

But they decided to start small, so small that the team genetically modified mice to give them several woolly mammoth-like traits, like long shaggy hair.

 

shaggy [ˋʃægɪ] adj. 长满粗毛的，有粗毛的; （毛发等）粗浓的

 

If their mission eventually succeeds, scientists do caution that the result won't be a true mammoth, but a new hybrid animal.

 

Our Katie Hunt explains the science behind the Dallas-based team's experiments with mammoth DNA variants. And after you watch this piece, take some time, think about how you feel about this.

 

Talk about it. Resurrecting, so to speak, extinct species. Is it right? Is it wrong? What good or bad could come from this if it becomes a thing?

 

I mean, I thought the mice looked super cute, and I knew that I would be seeing pictures of them all around the world.

 

My name is Katie Hunt. I'm a science writer at CNN. I wrote about a company that has created some mice that look a tiny bit like a woolly mammoth.

 

So the big picture, this company, Colossal Biosciences, they want to bring back the woolly mammoth from extinction, although it's safe to say that they're still many years from achieving anything approximating a mammoth. The mice have longer fur. They have lighter fur.

 

It's a blonde color rather than a brown color. They also have curly whiskers. Scientists say that technically it is quite an achievement to be able to make multiple gene edits at once in this way and alter several different traits involving several different genes.

 

whisker [ˋhwɪskɚ] n.（一根）须，（动物的）须

 

And it's certainly true that while mice are used in labs around the world, they probably haven't been used in this way before to model the traits of an extinct animal.

 

But many people say that bringing back the woolly mammoth, which is what this company wants to do, is not really possible. Many people are skeptical about this project.

 

One scientist I spoke to said it was frustrating that they'd managed to engineer these traits, but they hadn't really tested whether these mice do cope better in colder temperatures. And it's also an endeavor that is possibly ethically challenging and dubious.

 

ethically [ˋɛθɪklɪ] adv. 伦理（学）上；道德上

 

Now to a story that provesit is never too late to make your dreams come true.

 

In France, Texas native and former teacher Janice Dearwester decided to make a life-changing decision at the age of 70 to move from the U.S. to France. Years later, the retiree is not looking back. She's using her own YouTube channel to encourage everyone to make their dreams come true, young or old.

 

Check out what Miss Dearwester thinks of her move and her new home southeast of Paris.

 

The reason for my YouTube channel, it wasn't necessarily to promote France. It wasn't necessarily that they had to come to France.

 

It was to do something that they wouldn't regret. Whatever you want to do, make a move and make it happen.

 

You know, I had just come home from working and I just kind of laid there.

 

And I really remember when this song came out, I thought, well, that's the most depressing thing I've ever heard in my life. And I think it's by Peggy Lee. And it's like, is this all there is? And all of a sudden I thought, is this all there is? I retired.

 

Now I need to do something else. And that's when I decided to move to France. Gorgeous.

 

I wanted to talk to you just for a little bit. And I happen to be in Fontainebleau in the Diana Gardens.

 

Fontainebleau [ˌfaʊntənˈblo] n. 枫丹白露宫

 

I am so happy. I look out my window sometimes and I've been here three years and I still just think, wow, I'm in France. I did not know that I could be this happy. I have never had anyone, anyone that has been rude to me.

 

rude [rud] adj. 粗鲁的

 

Now there are certain times, you know, there are things that have happened since I've been here, of course, like it does every day. It is not utopia. And a lot of times I told my audience, I don't want to give you rainbows, lollipops, and unicorns.

 

lollipop [ˋlɑlɪ͵pɑp] n. 棒棒糖

unicorn [ˋjunɪ͵kɔrn] n.（传说中身体似马，头上长一只角的）独角兽

 

It's difficult here. I still don't have a visa after two years, but I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

 

Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10 goes to Mighty Morphing Undercover Police.

 

morphing [ˋmɔrfɪŋ] n. 变形; 变装

undercover [͵ʌndɚˋkʌvɚ] adj. 暗中进行的；从事秘密（或间谍）工作的

 

It was Morphing time for a group of undercover officers who blended in among the costumes and revellers celebrating Carnival in Sao Paulo, Brazil this week.

 

reveller [ˋrɛvəlɚ] n. 纵酒狂欢者；寻欢作乐的人

 

The governor of Brazil's most populous state said the officers made arrests that recovered stolen phones, thousands of dollars in cash.

 

Carnival's largest crowds are a hotspot for theft and robberies and officials say this strategy of disguising undercover police as party goers has led to declines in festival time crimes.

 

All right. Time now for our special shout out of the day. And this one's going to the Mustangs at McLean Middle School in Potomac, Maryland.

 

We heard that you would be having a CNN 10 party and we are very jealous. So be sure to send us some pics or videos, tag me on my @coywire social accounts so we can participate in some of the fun with you. All right.

 

We are right around the corner from the best day of the week, Friday. Keep working hard. Keep studying harder.

 

Let's get a little better today than we were yesterday. I'm CoY Wire. I'll see you right back here tomorrow on CNN 10.