Sunday, April 13, 2008

Extinction Distinctions

I love this headline:

"Extinct" plants found in remote Australia.

If it weren't for those scare quotes, this would be a miracle.

We only thinked
they were extinct.

Hmm. Suppose some plants became extinct... but we still had some seeds on hand. Would they be extinct in that case?

One extinction no one knocks
Is small pox.

I just hope there aren't any little hibernating copies of the smallpox virus around, sitting forgotten in some lab drawer.

Pox, big or small
Is no fun at all.

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